Kiir dissolves South Sudan's unity government before the December vote
Radio Tamazuj reports that Salva Kiir removed the vice presidents of the 2018 peace arrangement, including First Vice-President Riek Machar, and dissolved the legislature, the 10 state assemblies and 3 administrative areas. Kiir stays in office until a new president is sworn in, and the general election is set for 22 December. Al Jazeera reports the same dissolution ahead of the country's first national election.
Geopolitics··Midday
What Kiir dissolved
According to Radio Tamazuj, a presidential order read on state television on Tuesday evening removes First Vice-President Riek Machar and 4 other vice presidents at once; Machar's post was itself part of the 2018 peace arrangement. The order also dissolves both chambers of the legislature, the 10 state assemblies and the administrations of 3 administrative areas, so the unity offices created by the 2018 peace arrangement go in a single decision. Al Jazeera reports the same step as the dissolution of the unity government ahead of the country's first national election.[1], [2]
Kiir stays until a new president is sworn in
The presidency is not among the offices dissolved. Radio Tamazuj reports that the 2026 amendments to the 2012 election law keep Kiir in office until a newly elected president is sworn in. The elections commission has set the general election for 22 December, so his tenure now rests on that vote's outcome; until then Kiir governs without his partners from the 2018 arrangement.[1], [2]
Courts and security institutions stay
The order leaves the judiciary and the security institutions in place; what it dissolves is limited to the unity offices in the legislature and the executive. Al Jazeera places the decision in the run-up to the country's first national election.[1], [2]
