S. Sudan vows to hold long-delayed elections in December

JUBA - South Sudan will hold elections in December, the information minister vowed on Tuesday, after years of repeated delays and despite the country being on the verge of civil war.

International observers have warned of a return to full-blown conflict as government forces under President Salva Kiir battle groups loosely aligned with the opposition under Vice President Riek Machar.

A 2018 peace agreement ended the last civil war between Kiir and Machar but it has largely collapsed, with the vice president currently on trial and under house arrest.

Under the peace process, elections were supposed to be held in 2022 but were delayed to 2024 and again to this year.

"Elections must take place at the end of 2026, with no further extension," Information Minister Ateny Wek Ateny told reporters in the capital Juba.

It would be the first national polls since South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011.

The country is mired in poverty and extreme corruption. Other provisions of the peace deal have not been met, including the unification of rival armed forces.

Ateny said South Sudan was experiencing "relative peace", except for "some pockets of insecurity" in eastern Jonglei state.

But the violence has displaced tens of thousands, with aid agencies frequently attacked and struggling to operate.

There was sharp criticism last week by the US ambassador to the United Nations for political affairs, Jennifer Locetta.

"The tragedy of South Sudan is not a lack of agreements, it is a lack of political will to implement them," she told the Security Council.