No vote next year, says South Sudan government

South Sudan will postpone its 2015 presidential election for two or three years to give warring factions time to reconcile, President Salva Kiir said Monday. But his rival in a conflict that threatens to tear apart the world's newest nation said the vote should go ahead.

The announcement was made on the government's Twitter feed.

South Sudan was plunged into massive violence in December when President Salva Kiir accused his former vice president, Riek Machar, of trying to oust him in a coup. Kiir fired Machar in July 2013.

The fighting has curbed oil production, which is vital for the country’s economy. South Sudan became independent from Sudan in 2011, and ethnic-based violence has raged since, killing thousands.

Kiir and Machar signed a cease-fire pact in Ethiopia on Friday and pledged to hold further talks about forming an interim government to end nearly five months of bloodshed.

But South Sudan's army and opposition forces have traded blame for breaches of the cease-fire. The opposition forces on Monday said government soldiers had taken control of Bentiu, capital of oil-rich Unity state and the site of an ethnic massacre that in April raised fears of the conflict spiraling into genocide.

The unilateral declaration that elections have been postponed is not likely to be welcomed by Machar or by international partners including the United States, which worked hard to help South Sudan peacefully break away from Sudan in 2011 after decades of war.

"Elections will not be held in 2015, because reconciliation between the people will have to take time," Kiir said at Juba airport late on Sunday.

"The election (timetable) has to be extended for two or three years, so this interim government would remain in power and elections can be held in 2017 or 2018."

The country's interim constitution called for elections to be held in July 2015, though Kiir had hinted previously that the vote may be postponed, raising concerns from opposition members that he was trying to extend his rule.

Machar said on Monday that if the two sides could reach a “comprehensive agreement” based on the cease-fire, the elections should still take place in 2015.  He also said he would focus on restructuring the constitution to create a federal government for the fledgling nation.

“That would be good for South Sudan. This is when his [Kiir’s] term comes to an end," Machar said.

"We want to restructure the state and the system of governance. Our position is that there should be a federal system in a country like South Sudan, which is diverse."

South Sudan has never held a nation-wide election. In January 2011 it held a referendum on whether to remain a part of Sudan or break away and form a new country. The referendum passed with more than 98 percent in favor. Kiir had been the region's top leader and became president at separation.

Thousands of people have died in the violence since December, and U.N. human rights investigators say that gross human rights abuses have taken place. More than 1.3 million people have fled their homes, and aid workers worry that mass hunger will soon set in because few people are now planting crops.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon both flew into Juba, South Sudan's capital, before the peace deal to pressure Kiir and Machar to meet in Ethiopia and sign the deal.

Heavy fighting broke out around the city of Bentiu on Sunday, but no new fighting was reported on Monday, said military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer. Government troops were in full control of the city, he said.

Aguer said government forces are committed to the cease-fire, but he questioned if forces loyal to Machar are committed. An opposition spokesman has accused the government of breaking the cease-fire and said that opposition forces were committed to the deal but Kiir's forces were not.

Al Jazeera and wire services