South Sudan opposition alliance warns against delaying December election

The alliance's warning

Speaking to the media on Friday, Kornelio Kon Ngu, the alliance's chairperson and a presidential candidate, said the alliance had seen "indicators" of attempts to use the dialogue to postpone the vote entirely, or to hold presidential polls while delaying legislative, state and local elections. The alliance did not take part in the talks, which Kon described as a discussion between friends and allies of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement. Any delay, he said, must have a clear legal basis.

If the vote is postponed, Kon said the caretaker government should be dismissed and the power-sharing arrangements that existed before 22 September restored. That should be followed by an inclusive national consensus government with a maximum two-year mandate and a binding election timetable.

A caretaker with full powers

President Salva Kiir dissolved the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity on 22 September 2026. The decree removed the five vice presidents and the ministers, dissolved the national and state assemblies, and affected governments and assemblies in the country's administrative areas. Kiir stays in office until an elected successor is sworn in.

First Vice President Riek Machar, who was removed in the dissolution, remains in detention and on trial on charges including treason and murder, which he denies.

Parliament passed the amended National Elections Act on 21 September, a day before the dissolution, Radio Tamazuj reported. The law keeps the president in office with full constitutional powers and lets him relieve the first vice president and the four other vice presidents within three months of the vote, Pan African Visions reported. It also removed requirements to complete a permanent constitution and hold a census before elections. The 2018 peace agreement rested on power-sharing among former belligerents.

The European Union warned on 22 September that a caretaker government should concentrate on routine administration and avoid decisions with major political consequences while checks and balances are weakened, Radio Tamazuj reported. Former Detainees represented in the peace monitoring system asked IGAD to clarify whether the 2018 agreement still applied after the dissolution.

Machot Amuom, an independent analyst, told AFP the new law gave the president full powers. "He can decide even not to go for elections for another year or another two years," Amuom said.

Elections have been postponed five times since independence in 2011, most recently in 2024.

The Ministry of Cabinet Affairs pushed the opening session of the dialogue back by a week to 24 September, giving no reason.

The United People's Alliance and the SPLM-IO had asked for the talks to be held at a neutral venue outside South Sudan.

The pieces that are still missing

South Sudan's voter registry was last revised in 2008, and more than two million people remain internally displaced. Voter registration had not started. An analysis published by Modern Ghana found the election law flawed: it provides for 105% of the seats in the national assembly, and the commission has decided to reuse constituencies drawn for Sudan's 2010 elections. In Jonglei alone, recent clashes displaced more than 280,000 people.

When he announced the date in June, electoral chief Abednego Akok Kacuol acknowledged unresolved legal amendments and funding gaps. "The political will is not ours; it lies with the government," he said.

The EU has not yet allocated any funds, its delegation head Pelle Enarsson said, because the government has not disclosed a clear budget or plan. UN human rights commissioner Barney Afako said many of the safeguards and conditions for peaceful and credible polls are still missing.

What happens next

The outcome of the inter-party dialogue has not been made public. It is expected to conclude after Kiir returns from a foreign trip. The 22 December vote is intended to be South Sudan's first general election since independence in 2011.

Cyril Ramaphosa, chair of the African Union's Committee of Five, met Kiir in Pretoria on Wednesday and pressed for full implementation of the 2018 peace agreement, the South African presidency said. The African Union has called for an agreed and time-bound electoral roadmap and the release of political detainees, Channel Africa reported.

Akol Miyen Kuol, a political analyst, told Channel Africa the conditions for a credible, fair and peaceful election are not in place. He called for a limited postponement to allow an inclusive dialogue with opposition groups inside and outside the country.