South Sudan dissolves transitional government as election security tightens in Juba

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has dissolved the transitional government, parliament and national and state administrations as the country moves closer to its first national election since independence. The decision was taken under an amended law signed on Monday, and it comes three months before the vote scheduled for 22 December. Heavy security was reported in the capital, Juba, ahead of the announcement, with soldiers blocking access to government ministries and patrolling parts of the city.

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Under the new arrangement, Kiir removed the country's five vice-presidents and reappointed some ministers and governors in caretaker roles. A senior government official said staff arriving for work were turned away and told to return the following Monday. UN agencies in Juba also asked staff to work remotely while the situation was being monitored.

Kiir, who is the presidential candidate of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, will remain in office with full constitutional powers until an elected president is sworn in. The move follows repeated delays to South Sudan's electoral timetable, with the country having postponed elections twice and extended the transition several times. It also comes after the dismissal and charging of Riek Machar, the main opposition leader, who had been vice-president under the 2018 peace deal that ended a five-year civil war.

No prominent figures have announced plans to challenge Kiir in the December poll, while the main opposition group has warned people not to take part in voter registration and campaign preparations in areas it controls. The decision is significant because it reshapes the transition at a moment when South Sudan is trying to hold its first national election since gaining independence in 2011. The country has still not completed several tasks linked to the peace process, including voter registration and the wider political arrangements needed for a durable vote.

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The elections commission has also faced funding problems, with its former chairman saying in August that it needed $250m but had received only $21m. The 2018 peace agreement remains central to the current political order, and the latest changes show how much authority still rests with Kiir's administration. The agreement brought an end to years of conflict between forces loyal to Kiir and Machar, but the transition has remained fragile and repeatedly extended.

Last week, Kiir also dismissed the chairman of the national elections commission and replaced him with the commission's secretary-general, adding to the sense of a rapidly changing electoral framework. What remains unclear is how the caretaker system will operate in practice and whether the election timetable can still be met without further disruption. It is also not yet clear how opposition parties will respond to the latest legal and administrative changes, or whether the security restrictions in Juba will ease.

The coming weeks will show whether the transition can hold together long enough for the December vote to proceed.

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