South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit is expected to dissolve the transitional government and state governments on Sept. 22, three months before the country’s scheduled Dec. 22 general election.
The move could leave Kiir in office while other senior officials, including the five vice presidents, leave their positions. South Sudan’s parliament has approved amendments to the electoral law that give the president powers to relieve the first vice president and vice presidents during the three-month period before the election.
The expected dissolution comes amid a series of political and electoral changes in Juba, including the replacement of the National Elections Commission chairperson and Kiir’s appointment of his son, Maj. Gen. Atem Salva Kiir, to command the elite Tiger Division.
The government had previously indicated that the transitional administration could be dissolved in October because of Kiir’s expected attendance at the UN General Assembly in New York. The latest statements from lawmakers, however, point back to Sept. 22 as the expected date.
