RJMEC endorses extension of South Sudan’s transitional period
September 18, 2024 (JUBA) – The Revitalized Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) has endorsed the extension of the transitional period in South Sudan for more two years.
Last week, South Sudan’s parties to the September 2018 peace agreement extended the current transitional period by 24 months during a meeting chaired by President Salva Kiir.
According South Sudan’s presidency, the transitional period extension is intended to provide time and space for the implementation of the remaining provisions of the 2018 Revitalised Agreement to the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS).
The extension means and that elections initially scheduled for December 2024 will not take place.
Article 8.4 of the peace agreement stipulates that at least two-thirds of members present should consent to the extension of the agreement, of which 34 of the 43 member backed the extension.
According to the peace Monitoring body, the resolutions of the voting would be sent to the cabinet and later forwarded to the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) for final endorsement.
As such, it said, the extension of the transitional period and remains the position of RJMEC.
Speaking at the opening of the meeting, RJMEC Chairperson Amb. Maj. Gen. Charles Tai Gituai said: “As RJMEC, we have repeatedly expressed our concerns over the slow pace and limited progress in completing the critical requirements for elections, and the lack of sufficient funding for the implementation of the Agreement.”
“In March this year, we requested the Parties to the R-ARCSS to dialogue on the way forward to ensure the conduct of free, fair, and credible elections in a timely manner as per the Roadmap, but despite all the pressure put, the response has been slow to come out in an appropriate time frame,” he added.
The concern of RJMEC has been the lack of dedicated and predictable funding in this peace process.
“Therefore, any extension, without guaranteed funding, is not likely to result in a successful outcome,” said Gituai.
“I therefore call upon the RTGoNU to demonstrate to RJMEC members, how funding in particular, and the other recurrent challenges that have held back the implementation of the R-ARCSS in the past will be remedied to ensure that the critical pending tasks will be completed and elections held as promised”, he stressed.
In August 2022, the peace parties signed a two-year extension of the transitional government, citing the need to implement critical tasks in the 2018 peace deal.
(ST)