As ethnic and political conflicts escalate, South Sudan's first national election is postponed to February 2027

(Central News Agency, Juba, capital of South Sudan, comprehensive foreign reports on the 14th) Amid increasing ethnic and political conflicts in the country, South Sudan, the youngest country in the world, announced today that its first national election will be postponed from December this year to February next year.

AFP reported that South Sudan’s parliamentary and presidential elections had been postponed several times before and were originally scheduled to be held on December 22 this year. Now they have been postponed again. The United Nations (UN) has warned that the electoral vote could trigger large-scale conflicts.

The South Sudan Election Commission announced a new election schedule on social media, extending the voting day to February 11, 2027. The voting results are scheduled to be announced four days later.

In recent months, increasingly violent and deadly clashes have erupted between South Sudanese President Salva Kiir's government forces and supporters of detained former First Vice President Riek Machar.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011, but a civil war broke out between Kiir and Machar's forces from 2013 to 2018, killing at least 400,000 people. Machar is accused of committing "crimes against humanity" and has been under house arrest since March 2025.