JUBA – The South Sudanese government has defended its controversial roadmap to hold general elections in December 2026, telling peace monitors that the country has made enough progress under the 2018 peace agreement and cannot afford another extension of the transitional period.
The government’s position was presented on Thursday during the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) meeting.
The meeting came a day after the Transitional National Legislature approved amendments to the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS), removing two key pre-election requirements—a permanent constitution and a national population census—to clear the way for elections on 2 December 2026.
Opening the meeting, RJMEC Interim Chair, Maj. Gen. Aggrey George Owinow, said the commission had been unable to hold its regular plenary meetings in recent months because of the political and security tensions that followed the fighting in Nasir.
“RJMEC has regrettably been unable to convene its regular plenary meetings owing to the challenging political and security environment that emerged following the Nasir incident and its aftermath,” Owinow said.
Despite the interruption, he said the commission continued carrying out its mandate by submitting quarterly reports and briefings to the Transitional Government of National Unity, parliament, regional guarantors and other peace implementation mechanisms.
Against the backdrop of the recently announced election date, Owinow said the briefing was intended to allow institutions implementing the peace agreement—including the National Constitutional Review Commission, the National Elections Commission, the Political Parties Council and security monitoring bodies—to report on their progress and explain how they intend to complete the remaining election-related tasks.
Gov’t says elections cannot wait
Presenting the government’s position, Cabinet Affairs Minister Martin Elia Lomuro said South Sudan had reached a point where elections could no longer be postponed.
He said an implementation assessment carried out by the parties to the peace agreement showed that 54 per cent of the agreement had been completed.
“If you combine the completed provisions with those in progress, we have made substantial progress of more than 54 per cent,” Lomuro said.
He said the parties unanimously agreed that transitioning from the current unity government to a democratically elected government had become “an urgent national necessity.”
“The people of South Sudan should be allowed to elect their leaders without further delay,” he said.
According to Lomuro, the parties also resolved that there would be no further extension of the transitional period beyond 22 December 2026, insisting that elections must proceed on 2 December.
Gov’t explains why it bypassed RJMEC
One of the most contentious issues discussed during the meeting was the government’s decision to amend the peace agreement without obtaining formal endorsement from RJMEC’s plenary.
Lomuro rejected suggestions that the government ignored the peace monitoring body, arguing that the amendment process followed Article 8.4 of the peace agreement.
“The procedure for amendment is based on Article 8.4 of the agreement,” he said.
He explained that after the parties reached consensus on the proposed amendments, they were approved by the Council of Ministers before being submitted to RJMEC.
However, he claimed the commission did not allow the parties to formally present the amendments before its members.
“When we wanted to come to the RJMEC, they said they were not ready to allow us to present our amendments and our reasons for the amendments,” Lomuro said.
“We engaged for a short time, and when we saw that the time was now going beyond what we expected from them, we had to make the decision that we bypass RJMEC.”
He insisted the government had “strong reasons” for both amending the agreement and bypassing the commission.
“So the reason is RJMEC itself not giving us the opportunity,” he said.
Lomuro said the government had since made compromises after discussions with RJMEC.
“I am glad today they have recognised that we had good reasons and that we also compromised by retaining some articles that they were concerned about, Article 8.2 and 8.3. So we are on line, we are in harmony now, which is good for us,” he said.
Earlier in his presentation, Lomuro explained that the presidency had first submitted the proposed amendments to RJMEC in line with the agreement.
He said the commission later responded that the proposed amendments involved political issues that were outside its mandate to determine.
Because of the limited time remaining before the elections, he said, the presidency and signatories to the agreement decided to submit the amendments directly to parliament.
Those amendments were approved by lawmakers on Tuesday, removing the requirement to complete the permanent constitution-making process and conduct a national census before elections can be held.
The amendments also allow elections to be conducted under the existing Transitional Constitution while the Election Act and Political Parties Act are amended to reflect the new legal framework.
Peace process to continue after elections
Lomuro acknowledged that many provisions of the peace agreement would remain unfinished before the December polls.
However, he said the parties had agreed that outstanding commitments would continue under a post-election implementation framework.
“These provisions shall remain binding upon the parties and shall continue to be implemented by the elected government,” he said.
He added that the parties had established a political leadership body and several technical committees to oversee election preparations, legal reforms, political dialogue and security arrangements.
Priority, he said, would be given to graduating and deploying the Necessary Unified Forces to provide security during the electoral period and protect civilians.
Concerns remain
The government’s defence of its election roadmap comes amid growing debate over whether the latest amendments fully comply with the implementation mechanisms set out in the 2018 peace agreement.
With just months remaining before polling day, South Sudan now faces the challenge of organising peaceful, credible and inclusive elections while continuing to implement the remaining provisions of the revitalised peace agreement after the vote.
