Kiir’s Power to Stay: South Sudan Passes Controversial Elections Law
By Emmaneul Jumaah
South Sudan’s Transitional National Legislative Assembly on Monday, September 21, passed the National Elections Act, 2012 (Amendment) Bill, 2026, paving the way for the country’s planned general elections on December 22, 2026.
President Salva Kiir Mayardit signed the legislation into law hours after Parliament passed it in Juba. Under the amended law, the incumbent president will remain in office and exercise his constitutional powers throughout the election period until the newly elected president assumes office. The law also provides that, within three months before the election date, the president may relieve the First Vice President and the other Vice Presidents from Office.
Minister of Presidential Affairs Africano Mande Gedima said the amendments harmonise the electoral law with the Transitional Constitution and “delink” the elections from the permanent constitution-making process and the national census, allowing the electoral process to proceed independently of those processes.
One important correction to earlier reports: while Parliament’s passage was reported with a proposed 332-member National Legislative Assembly, the law, as signed by President Kiir, sets the National Legislative Assembly at 270 members. It also provides 58 members in each state legislative assembly and 20 councillors for each Administrative Area Council.
If held as scheduled, the December 22 vote would be South Sudan’s first general election since independence in 2011. The National Elections Commission formally announced the December 22, 2026 polling date in June.
