South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir dissolved the country’s transitional unity government and named a caretaker arrangement as Juba moves toward what would be its first national elections, according to Al Jazeera (opens in new tab) reporting that cited AFP and Reuters.
A decree announced Tuesday and read on the national broadcaster said all vice presidents, ministers, and local administrators had been removed and that the national and state assemblies were dissolved. The judiciary and security institutions were to remain in place, and Kiir was to stay in office “during the election period until the next elected president assumes office,” the decree language quoted by Al Jazeera (opens in new tab) said.
The move followed parliamentary approval of changes to the National Elections Act that, as reported by Al Jazeera (opens in new tab), allow Kiir to remain in power through the election period and remove vice presidents appointed under the 2018 revitalized peace agreement. Those changes also permit elections scheduled for Dec. 22 without first completing a permanent constitution or census—steps previously tied to the transition.
Al Jazeera (opens in new tab) reported that the main opposition alliance rejected the legal changes. Sudans Post (opens in new tab) separately reported that the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM/A-IO), led by former First Vice President Riek Machar, on Wednesday rejected the planned December elections. Interim Deputy Chairperson Regina Joseph Kaba said in a statement that the party formally rejects “unilateral elections” and “unilateral amendments” to the 2018 agreement, calling the process a grave violation of the R-ARCSS and warning it could return the country to violence.
Kaba, as quoted by Sudans Post (opens in new tab), also rejected an Inter-Party Political Dialogue set for Thursday, Sept. 24, as “political theatre,” demanded Machar’s immediate release along with other political detainees, and called for talks at a neutral venue under mediation involving IGAD, the African Union, the Troika, and the United Nations.
Background reported by Al Jazeera (opens in new tab): elections were initially expected in 2022 and have been postponed twice; outstanding 2018-deal tasks include a permanent constitution, voter registration, and unifying rival armed forces. Machar remains under house arrest and on trial on charges including treason, which he denies. Analysts quoted by AFP warned the changes concentrate power in Kiir’s hands; Amnesty International called the decree a “decisive step” toward elections while urging a conducive environment for voting.