South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has signed amendments removing legal requirements that linked the country’s planned South Sudan Election to the completion of a permanent constitution and national census ahead of the December 22 vote.
According to Reuters, Kiir signed the changes to the South Sudan Election Law late on Monday after parliament passed the bill earlier in the day. The amendments are intended to clear a legal path for elections that would be South Sudan’s first since gaining independence in 2011.
The South Sudan Opposition Alliance, a coalition of opposition parties and a signatory to the country’s 2018 peace agreement, rejected the amendments. The coalition said the changes were made without adequate consultation among parties to the agreement.
Kiir’s office described the amendments to the National Elections Act of 2012 as another milestone in preparations for the South Sudan Election.
The changes come as the country approaches a critical stage of preparations, although voter registration has not started.
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Presidential affairs minister Africano Mande Gedima said the amendments were designed to align the electoral law with South Sudan’s transitional constitution.
They remove provisions that had made elections dependent on completing a permanent constitution and conducting a national census.
Both processes had been among the benchmarks associated with South Sudan’s political transition following the 2018 peace agreement.
The amended South Sudan Election Law also sets out how the executive will operate during the election period.
Under the changes, the incumbent executive leadership will retain full constitutional powers throughout the election period until a newly elected president assumes office.
The first vice president and other vice presidents are required to leave office within three months before election day.
South Sudan Election Law Cuts Parliament to 270 Members
The amendments also significantly change the size of South Sudan’s legislative institutions.
The South Sudan Election Law reduces the National Legislative Assembly from 650 members to 270.
State assemblies will have 58 members instead of 100, while legislative councils in the country’s administrative areas will have 20 members.
Parliament approved the bill on Monday before sending it to Kiir for assent.
The changes come less than three months before the scheduled South Sudan Election and follow another significant change to the country’s electoral administration.
Kiir replaced the head of the elections commission last week without publicly providing a reason for the decision, according to Reuters.
Opposition Rejects South Sudan Election Law Changes
The South Sudan Opposition Alliance has rejected the amendments, arguing that the process lacked adequate consultation among parties to the 2018 peace agreement.
The disagreement adds another issue to the political environment surrounding preparations for the South Sudan Election.
Kiir’s longtime rival Riek Machar, who leads the main opposition SPLM-IO, has been under house arrest since March 2025. He is standing trial on charges including treason and murder, which he denies.
South Sudan’s transitional arrangements were established under the 2018 peace agreement following years of conflict.
Election preparations have since faced repeated delays, with slow progress on major transitional benchmarks including the permanent constitution and national census.
The latest South Sudan Election Law amendments remove those two requirements as conditions for proceeding with the vote.
South Sudan Election Preparations Enter Critical Stage
Despite the legislative changes, important preparations remain ahead of the scheduled December 22 vote.
Voter registration had not begun at the time of the Reuters report.
The approaching South Sudan Election therefore places attention on how electoral authorities will implement the remaining preparations under the amended legal framework.
The political disagreements surrounding the process have also prompted calls for disputes to be handled peacefully.
Edmund Yakani, executive director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organisation, called on South Sudanese political leaders to resolve their differences without violence.
“Don’t return us to war,” Yakani said in a statement. “Sort out your political differences through non-violent means.”
His appeal reflects the wider context surrounding the election process in a country whose current transitional framework emerged from an agreement intended to end years of conflict.
What This Means For Africa
The planned South Sudan Election carries significance beyond the country because it would mark South Sudan’s first general election since independence in 2011.
That makes the process an important stage in a political transition that has been repeatedly extended while key provisions of the 2018 peace agreement remained incomplete.
The amended South Sudan Election Law removes two of those outstanding benchmarks as legal conditions for holding elections. The government says the changes align the electoral framework with the transitional constitution, while the South Sudan Opposition Alliance has challenged the consultation process behind the amendments.
Those competing positions will remain part of the political environment as preparations continue.
For the wider region, the immediate importance lies in maintaining peaceful political engagement as disagreements over the electoral process are addressed.
South Sudan’s recent history makes stability particularly important. The 2018 agreement followed years of conflict, and the current transition was intended to establish a framework for moving the country towards elections.
The December 22 timetable now brings that process closer to a major test.
However, passage of the South Sudan Election Law amendments does not by itself complete the practical preparations required for an election. Voter registration has yet to begin, and electoral authorities face a limited period to implement the remaining steps before the scheduled vote.
The reduction of the National Legislative Assembly from 650 to 270 members also means the election would take place under a substantially different legislative structure.
Attention will therefore remain on implementation of the amended framework, participation by political actors, voter registration and the handling of disputes as the South Sudan Election approaches.
For South Sudan and its regional partners, the months leading to December 22 will show how the amended South Sudan Election Law operates in practice as the country prepares for a vote that has been repeatedly delayed since the establishment of its transitional arrangements.
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Image Credit: Qiraat Africa
