South Sudan postpones its first ever elections again
South Sudan's election commission announced the postponement of the country's first ever elections to February 11, 2026, instead of December 22, 2025, amid ongoing political and military conflict and UN warnings of a new war.
South Sudan's election commission announced on Saturday the postponement of the country's first ever elections to February 11, 2026, instead of December 22, 2025, amid ongoing political and military conflict and UN warnings that holding the vote under current conditions could lead to a new war. The commission published the new timeline on its Facebook page, after two previous postponements. The commission's secretary general, Ahon Malo Luith, confirmed the decision to AFP without providing further details on its reasons. This delay follows renewed political and military tensions after the arrest of Vice President Riek Machar in March 2025 and his placement under house arrest, and the resumption of fighting between government forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and militias loyal to his ousted deputy. South Sudan declared independence from Sudan in 2011, but entered a civil war in 2013 that killed about 400,000 people and displaced four million others. The 2018 peace agreement provided for power-sharing between Kiir and Machar, with elections in 2022, but they have been repeatedly postponed.