South Sudan Dissolves Unity Government Ahead of First National Election

South Sudan President Salva Kiir dissolved the transitional unity government and appointed a caretaker administration ahead of the country's first-ever national elections scheduled for December 22. Al Jazeera

The decree was issued on September 22, hours after Kiir signed amendments to election laws. Reuters Kiir's office said he dissolved the transitional government as required under the electoral process.

The order ends the power-sharing arrangement from the 2018 peace deal, under which rival leaders shared posts after civil war. It removes all vice-presidents, ministers and local administrators. It also dissolves the national and state assemblies. The judiciary and security institutions remain in place. Kiir will stay in office during the election period until the next elected president assumes office.

Parliament acted first. Lawmakers approved changes to the National Elections Act a day before the decree. Those changes allow Kiir to remain in power through the election period. They also allow South Sudan to move toward elections without first completing a permanent constitution, the basic rulebook for government, or a census, the official population count used for representation. A separate constitutional amendment clearing the way for the planned general elections in December 2026 was signed earlier in September.

The electoral timeline has slipped repeatedly. The vote was initially expected in 2022 but has been postponed twice. Kiir has replaced the head of the elections commission with Gabriel Bol Deng Majok to oversee poll preparations.

The dissolved arrangement included the opposition Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO), led by Riek Machar. Its removal from executive and legislative structures formalizes the close of the transitional power-sharing period and the shift to caretaker governance, a temporary administration for the campaign period, under the incumbent presidency.

The broader context here is procedural continuity versus competitive pluralism. Legislative revision, dissolution, caretaker appointment and a new commission chair concentrate management of the transition in the presidency while preserving the courts and the security apparatus as the standing institutions. That structure provides administrative clarity for a December poll. It also narrows the institutional checks that defined the transitional period.

Looking at what this means for the election itself, three variables will determine credibility among diplomats, observers and regional mediators. The first is administration. A caretaker cabinet and a newly installed commission chair will run voter registration, candidate eligibility and dispute resolution on a compressed calendar. The second is law. Operating without a permanent constitution or census simplifies the legal threshold for holding the vote but leaves representation formulas and jurisdictional boundaries exposed to challenge. The third is inclusion. The end of guaranteed power-sharing places greater weight on whether opposition parties can campaign, access media and contest results through intact judicial channels. The decree creates the legal condition for elections. It does not settle logistics or acceptance.