South Sudan's peace monitors approve transitional government's extension

JUBA, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan's peace monitors on Thursday unanimously voted to extend the Transitional Government by two years.

Charles Tai Gituai, the interim chairperson of the Revitalized Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (R-JMEC), said two-thirds of the voting members in the commission approved the extension according to the procedures set out in the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan.

"Forty-three members have the voting right, 37 out of 42 members present today voted in favor, five did not vote while one was absent," Tai said in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, during an extraordinary meeting of the R-JMEC.

Among the members who did not vote include the United States, United Kingdom and Norway who requested a three-month consultation among the parties and guarantors to the agreement before any extension.

Tai revealed that the extension of the government by 24 months will now require ratification by the Reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly according to the constitutional amendment procedures set out in the Transitional Constitution of South Sudan.

He urged parties to the agreement to pursue dialogue and join hands to enhance the rebuilding of trust and confidence in the peace process by taking concrete steps to address all the key impediments to progress in the implementation of the peace agreement.

Parties to the conflict in South Sudan in August extended the government by two years from February 2023 to February 2025 to allow the implementation of outstanding issues to be resolved before the conduct of the election at the end of the transitional period.

South Sudan descended into violence in December 2013 following a political dispute between President Salva Kiir and his then Deputy Riek Machar, leading to the death and displacement of millions of civilians in the world's youngest republic.

Statistics from the UN indicate that more than 2 million people have been displaced by the conflict that subsided amid peace mediation by the international community that culminated in the establishment of a transitional government of national unity in February 2020.