Arabic version: كير يحل حكومة جنوب السودان قبل انتخابات ديسمبر

According to BBC News, South Sudan President Salva Kiir has dissolved the transitional government three months before the country’s first election since independence in 2011. The country has postponed elections twice and extended its transitional period several times.

Under an amended law signed on Monday, Kiir removed the country’s five vice-presidents and dissolved parliament, along with national and state governments. Kiir will remain in office with full constitutional powers until an elected president is sworn in.

He also reappointed some ministers and governors to caretaker roles until the 22 December elections. Kiir is the presidential candidate for the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, and no prominent figures have announced plans to challenge him.

Main opposition leader Riek Machar was removed as vice-president last year and charged with treason. He is under house arrest. Machar had been appointed vice-president under the 2018 peace deal that ended a five-year civil war between forces loyal to him and Kiir.

Security was tightened in Juba before Tuesday’s announcement, with soldiers blocking access to government ministries and patrolling parts of the capital. The Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission said the country had entered a “critical phase” and called for agreement on credible elections and a peaceful end to the transitional period.