In a nation still carrying the wounds of a civil war that claimed 400,000 lives, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has dissolved the power-sharing government built to prevent another such catastrophe, concentrating authority in his own hands ahead of elections scheduled for December. The 2018 peace accord — painstakingly assembled to distribute power and rebuild trust — has been swept aside by decree, leaving no parliament, no cabinet, and no rival centers of authority to temper what comes next. History reminds us that the distance between an election and a consolidation of power is often mea
South Sudan's Kiir dissolves government, consolidates power before elections
The 2018 peace deal that preceded these changes ended a five-year civil war that killed approximately 400,000 people and displaced millions.
He can decide even not to go for elections for another year or another two years
Mark
Why does dissolving the government actually move elections closer? Doesn't that usually mean things are getting worse?
Mimi
The 2018 peace deal tied elections to completing a constitution and a census first. Those processes were stalled for years. By removing those requirements, Kiir cleared the legal pathway to hold elections in December.
Luke
But at what cost? He also removed every institutional check on himself. The vice-presidents, the cabinet, the assemblies—all gone. That's not just streamlining; that's consolidation.
Mimi
Right. And the new electoral law is written in a way that gives him discretion over the timeline. Analysts say he could theoretically postpone again without parliament stopping him.
Mark
So he's solved the procedural problem by giving himself total power to decide what happens next?
Luke
Exactly. And Machar, his main rival, is under house arrest facing trial. The elections commission chief was replaced without explanation. This doesn't look like preparation for a fair contest.
Mimi
Amnesty International did call it a step toward elections, but they immediately added that authorities need to ensure a "conducive environment" for voting. That's diplomatic language for: we're worried.
Mark
What was the peace deal actually supposed to do?
Mimi
It ended a five-year civil war that killed around 400,000 people. The power-sharing arrangement was meant to prevent one person from consolidating control again.
Luke
And now that arrangement is dissolved. The irony is sharp.
Mark
So December elections might happen, but under what conditions?
Mimi
That's the question no one can answer yet.
Le Pouls
- A single presidential decree has erased every vice-president, minister, and assembly in South Sudan, leaving Kiir as the sole executive authority in a country that has not yet held a national election.
- Parliament quietly rewrote electoral law the day before, stripping away the constitutional and census requirements that had long blocked elections — and with them, the last procedural guardrails on Kiir's power.
- Legal analysts warn the new law's vague language gives the president discretion to postpone elections indefinitely, with no parliamentary body left to challenge or even question such a decision.
- Riek Machar, Kiir's principal rival, remains under house arrest facing treason charges; the elections commission chief was replaced without explanation; and security checkpoints around Juba have multiplied — a landscape that opposition groups say makes free participation impossible.
- December elections remain on the calendar, but the country still has no permanent constitution, incomplete voter registration, and unintegrated rival armed forces — conditions that once had to be resolved before any vote could proceed.
In a nation still carrying the wounds of a civil war that claimed 400,000 lives, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has dissolved the power-sharing government built to prevent another such catastrophe, concentrating authority in his own hands ahead of elections scheduled for December. The 2018 peace accord — painstakingly assembled to distribute power and rebuild trust — has been swept aside by decree, leaving no parliament, no cabinet, and no rival centers of authority to temper what comes next. History reminds us that the distance between an election and a consolidation of power is often measured not in ballots, but in the institutions that are allowed to survive.
On a Tuesday morning broadcast over state radio, President Salva Kiir signed a decree that dismantled South Sudan's transitional unity government — the fragile architecture assembled after a civil war that killed roughly 400,000 people and displaced millions. Every vice-president, minister, and local administrator was removed from office. Both the national and state assemblies were dissolved. What remained was Kiir, a caretaker administration, and a security apparatus answerable to him alone.
The decree came one day after parliament rewrote the electoral law in ways that cleared Kiir's path to the December 22 elections while removing the conditions that had long stood in the way. Under the 2018 peace agreement, a permanent constitution and a national census were mandatory prerequisites. Both requirements were quietly eliminated. The power-sharing formula that had defined the transitional period — multiple vice-presidents, a unity cabinet, shared authority — was erased entirely.
Analysts responded with alarm. Lawyer Michael Wani, a former member of the constitution drafting committee, said Kiir would now operate without any institutional check on his authority. Independent analyst Machot Amuom pointed to the law's deliberately ambiguous language, warning it gave the president the discretion to postpone elections for a year or more without parliamentary approval — a parliament that no longer exists to object.
The broader picture deepens the concern. Kiir's longtime rival Riek Machar remains under house arrest, facing treason and murder charges he denies. The head of the elections commission was replaced last week without explanation. Security checkpoints around Juba have multiplied. Elections were already postponed twice — first from 2022, then again — and the country still lacks a permanent constitution, complete voter registration, and unified armed forces. What has changed is that one man now holds the authority to navigate all of it, or to delay it, without anyone left to say otherwise.
On Tuesday, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir signed a decree that dismantled the transitional government that had held the country together since 2018. The order, announced over state radio, removed every vice-president, every minister, and every local administrator from office. It dissolved both the national and state assemblies. What remained was Kiir himself, a caretaker administration, and the security apparatus—intact and answerable to him alone.
The decree arrived one day after parliament had quietly rewritten the electoral law. The changes were surgical: they allowed Kiir to remain in power throughout the election period, scheduled for December 22, without first completing a permanent constitution or conducting a national census. Both of those tasks had been mandatory requirements under the 2018 peace agreement. Both had been blocking the path to elections for years. Now they were gone.
The 2018 accord had ended five years of civil war that killed roughly 400,000 people and scattered millions more across the region. It was built on a power-sharing formula—multiple vice-presidents, a unity cabinet, shared authority. That entire structure has now been erased. Kiir will hold office alone until the next president is sworn in, with no executive to consult, no parliament to constrain him, no rival power centers to negotiate with.
Analysts and legal experts read the changes with alarm. Michael Wani, a lawyer who had served on the constitution drafting committee, told the AFP that Kiir would now operate without any institutional check on his authority. Machot Amuom, an independent analyst, flagged the ambiguity baked into the new law itself. The language, he said, gave the president sweeping discretion—including, theoretically, the power to postpone elections indefinitely without parliamentary approval. "He can decide even not to go for elections for another year or another two years," Amuom said.
Amnesty International called the decree a step forward for the country's first-ever national elections. But the organization's regional director, Tigere Chagutah, added a condition: authorities must ensure that people could actually vote and run for office freely. The main opposition alliance rejected the changes outright.
The timing is worth noting. Riek Machar, Kiir's longtime rival and leader of the opposition Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition, remains under house arrest. He faces trial on charges of treason and murder, which he denies. Last week, Kiir also replaced the head of the elections commission without explanation, installing Gabriel Bol Deng Majok with a vague mandate to oversee the polls. Around the government complex in Juba, checkpoints have multiplied. Security personnel were ordered to maintain heightened alert for three days.
Elections were supposed to happen in 2022. They were postponed twice. Now they are scheduled for December, but the legal and institutional scaffolding that was meant to support them has been removed. The country still lacks a permanent constitution. Voter registration remains incomplete. The armed forces loyal to rival factions have not been unified. What has changed is that one man now has the authority to navigate—or obstruct—all of it alone.
Citations marquantes
Kiir will be the only person in power, without vice-presidents, without the executive, without the parliament— Michael Wani, lawyer and former constitution drafting committee member
The new law gives the president full powers. He can decide even not to go for elections for another year or another two years— Machot Amuom, independent analyst
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Politics & Governance