JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — South Sudan has again postponed its first national elections since independence in 2011, moving polling from December to February amid concerns about insecurity, funding shortages and the country’s readiness to vote.
asserted
Sudan → postpone → insecurity
A revised timetable published Saturday by the National Election Commission sets Feb. 11, 2027, as polling day, replacing Dec. 22.
asserted
timetable → revise → Dec.
The document did not give a reason for the postponement.
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document → give → postponement
The polls have been repeatedly delayed, including in 2022 and 2024.
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polls → delay → 2022
The latest announcement follows warnings that elections could further unravel the country’s fragile peace.
uncertain
elections → follow → peace
The commission published the timetable on social media on the day voter registration was scheduled to begin.
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registration → publish → day
It also sets dates for candidate nominations and campaigning.
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It → set → nominations
A day earlier, commission chairperson Gabriel Bol Deng told journalists in Juba that registration would run from Nov. 14 to Nov. 28 at 3,161 registration centers across the country’s 10 states and three administrative areas.
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registration → tell → states
Deng urged eligible citizens to register and called on political parties, civil society groups, community leaders and the media to help raise public awareness.
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Deng → urge → awareness
South Sudan became independent from Sudan in 2011 after decades of civil war.
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Sudan → become → war
A new conflict broke out in 2013 between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and followers of his rival, Riek Machar.
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conflict → break → rival
A peace deal was signed in 2018 and a transitional government of national unity was formed in 2020.
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government → sign → 2020
Fighting between government and opposition forces escalated in early 2025, and Machar was placed under house arrest in Juba that March.
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Machar → escalate → Juba
He and seven co-defendants are on trial on charges including treason, murder and crimes against humanity linked to an attack on an army garrison in Nasir, in the northeast.
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He → include → northeast
They deny the charges.
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They → deny → charges
The transitional unity government was dissolved in September and replaced by a caretaker administration.
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government → dissolve → administration
The South Sudan Civil Society Forum said in a statement issued in late October that conditions did not support fair, credible, peaceful and inclusive elections within the remaining time.
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conditions → say → time
It called for an inclusive dialogue on electoral preparations and the country’s transition.
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It → call → preparations
Kiir’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, or SPLM, has been holding primaries across the country.
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Movement → rule → country
But there has been little electoral activity among other registered parties, Anita Kiki Gbeho, head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, told the U.N. Security Council on Nov. 10.
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Gbeho → register → Nov.
Elections cannot substitute for political dialogue, confidence-building and continued implementation of the Peace Agreement,” she said.
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she → substitute → Agreement
On Thursday, two SPLM delegates were killed in an attack in Miri Loko village, in Western Equatoria state, while returning from party primaries and congresses, officials said.
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officials → kill → primaries
It was the third security incident affecting the party’s primaries and congresses in the state, according to Deng Dau Deng, who chairs the SPLM’s high-level committee there.
uncertain
who → affect → committee
One of those killed was Veronica Lucy Gordon, a former South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation journalist who had recently been nominated to contest a women’s seat in the National Legislative Assembly.
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who → kill → Assembly
Edmund Yakani, director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization, condemned the attack, urging those opposed to the delegates’ political views to pursue dialogue rather than violence.
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Yakani → condemn → dialogue
Following news of the postponement, Yakani called for transparency in the commission’s decisions.
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Yakani → follow → decisions
He also said the locations of registration centers remained unpublished on the day registration was scheduled to begin, leaving citizens without clear information about where to register.
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registration → say → information
The Aporia
