South Sudan postpones first-ever national elections to February

South Sudan's National Elections Commission on Saturday postponed the country's first-ever presidential and parliamentary elections from December 22, 2026 to February 11, 2027, giving no reason for the decision.

Why it matters: The vote has now been delayed at least three times since it was first expected in 2022, and the new date lands months after President Salva Kiir dissolved the transitional unity government in September, a move the UN human rights commission's chair for South Sudan called a constitutional coup.

Data as of Al Jazeera's report of November 14, 2026, by Al Jazeera Staff and AFP, read in full via the estate browser route after the direct fetch was blocked: the commission's announcement, the December 22, 2026 and February 11, 2027 dates, and the revised registration and campaign timetable. The commission's own announcement document was not read directly, so the postponement is carried on wire reporting of the announcement, with Arabic and Russian feeds in the queue carrying the same decision. Developing item.

South Sudan’s National Elections Commission, chaired by Gabriel Bol Deng, announced on Saturday that the country’s first-ever presidential and parliamentary elections will be held on February 11, 2027 instead of December 22, 2026, and gave no reason for the postponement. Under the revised timetable, voter registration runs from November 14 to November 28 at 3,161 centres staffed by more than 22,000 people, followed by a 45-day campaign from December 27 to February 9, in a country where about 90 percent of 15 million inhabitants have no state-recognised identification, according to the World Bank.

The delay is at least the third since the vote was first expected in 2022, and it follows President Salva Kiir’s dissolution of the transitional unity government in September, which analysts and watchdogs said dismantled a key power-sharing arrangement and raised the risk of renewed widespread conflict.

South Sudan postpones first-ever national elections to February

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