South Sudan lawyers petition court over election postponement

September 23, 2024 (JUBA) – A group of South Sudanese lawyers filed a case challenging the postponement of elections and extension of the transitional government’s tenure for 24 months.

Barely two weeks ago, South Sudan’s presidency announced an extension of the transitional period by two more years while elections initially scheduled for December 2024 was pushed until 2026.

The extension was immediately endorsed by the cabinet and approved by the national assembly.

But the lawyers, in a petition to the Supreme Court, want the extension nullified.

“We submitted the constitutional petition to the office of the Chief Justice and we will follow up our petition on Wednesday this week. From there we will give more details. As lawyers, we think that this extension is unconstitutional, is illegal and we (are) demanding our government to conduct elections within the time-frame,” Deng John Deng told reporters Monday.

“We want the court to declare the extension of the transitional period unconstitutional and null and void and we want the court to also order the government to conduct elections within the timeframe,” he added.

The United States ambassador to South Sudan, Michael J. Adler said the extension of the transitional period marked the “failure” of South Sudan’s leaders to create conditions necessary to hold genuine, peaceful and inclusive elections.

In August 2022, a similar extension was made by the parties, citing unpreparedness.

(ST)