The government of South Sudan went into an emergency cabinet meeting hours after it announced that long-delayed national elections would be postponed by two years.
The polls were due to take place this December.
A 2018 peace deal that ended a civil war allowed president Salva Kiir to remain in charge of a transitional government with his former foe Riek Machar serving as his deputy.
South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, has not held national elections since independence in 2011.
The decision to postpone the vote by another two years has not come as a great surprise.
The political leaders of South Sudan have not exactly been racing to get ready for a vote.
This has fuelled suspicion that they are clinging onto power in the oil-rich country.
President Salva Kiir’s office says essential tasks like writing a new constitution have to happen before an election.
Officials have also cited logistical and security challenges, which could not be overcome by the end of the year.
Those in charge are the same leaders who plunged the country into a five-year civil war.
Given the current relative peace and the fact that neighbouring Sudan is being destroyed by conflict, South Sudan’s politicians may not come under much international pressure.
Rich in oil resources yet extremely poor, South Sudan is currently confronted with a significant decline in its capacity to finance electoral processes. This decline stems primarily from a sharp reduction in oil revenues, compounded by economic hardships and the diversion of resources by the ruling elite.
At independence in 2011, and prior to the conflict that began two years later, South Sudan’s daily oil exports stood at 300,0000 barrels. However, ongoing conflict and infrastructure damage have led to a steady decline in production, with current exports reduced to approximately 150,000 barrels per day.
Projections indicate a continued halving of production roughly every five years. Factors exacerbating South Sudan’s oil revenue decline include volatile global oil prices, internal instability and poor-quality crude oil.
Prospective investors are further deterred by war-damaged oil wells and the logistical and political complexities associated with exporting oil through neighboring Sudan.
Major oil export disruptions were noted after a disastrous rupture on the crucial pipeline responsible for ferrying landlocked South Sudan’s crude oil to the Red Sea hub of Port Sudan for global export.
The rupture occurred during fighting between Sudan’s warring parties: the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces.
Reported by BBC
