Cabinet endorses extension of transitional period

The Council of Ministers on Friday endorsed the roadmap signed recently by the parties to extend the transitional period for two years.

“The cabinet of ministers approved the roadmap as proposed by the parties’ signatory to the agreement, because the parties to the agreement presented the amendment to the cabinet which is passed by two thirds,” Michael Makuei Lueth, the Minister of Information told journalists after the weekly cabinet meeting in Juba.

He said that the roadmap, approval of the principals and the speech of the President were adopted by cabinet.

“The main objective was to evaluate and see how far we have succeeded in the implementation of the agreement and what are the obstacles up to now, and whether it’s possible to conduct elections or not,” Makuei said.

“It’s not possible to conduct elections because many things like the constitution are not available and it’s the constitution that decides the number of constituencies, the system of governance, and seats in the parliament,” he added.

On Thursday, President Salva Kiir, First Vice President Riek Machar and other opposition parties such as South Sudan Opposition Movement Alliance (SSOMA) and Other Political Parties (OPP) agreed to extend the transitional period that was meant to end in February next year.

The transitional period will now end in February 2025.

Makuei said that the signed roadmap will be taken forwarded to the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring Evaluation Commission (R-JMEC) and then afterwards to the national parliament for ratification.

“Up to now we have not conducted the repatriation of internally displaced persons and refugees, population census which can take two years, and the security organs are not in place they are the ones to protect the elections,” he said.

The 2018 revitalized peace agreement mediated by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) was signed by the parties to end years of conflict since outbreak in December 2013.