S. Sudan parliament extends president's term in office for 3 years

South Sudan's parliament on Wednesday officially extended for three years the term of office for President Salva Kiir Mayardit, a spokesman said.

The parliament has decided to extend the term of President Salva Kiir Mayardit for three years after lawmakers voted on that matter last March, Thomas Wani, South Sudan's parliament spokesman, told Xinhua.

"The president will not need to take constitutional oath as he is actually assuming the presidential post," he noted.

President Kiir vowed before the parliament members to work to end the war and achieve peace and stability in South Sudan, the spokesman added.

In February, the South Sudanese government requested the parliament to postpone the general elections, slated for last June, for two years, and extend the term in office of Kiir for three years.

South Sudan plunged into violence in December 2013, when fighting erupted between troops loyal to Kiir and defectors led by his former deputy Riek Machar.

The conflict soon turned into an all-out war, with the violence taking on an ethnic dimension that pitted the president's Dinka tribe against Machar's Nuer ethnic group.

The clashes have left thousands of South Sudanese dead and forced around 1.9 million people to flee homes. Endit