Kiir Dissolves South Sudan's Transitional Government Ahead of December Vote

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has dissolved the country's transitional government, removing his deputies and installing a caretaker administration ahead of elections scheduled for Dec 22.

The changes, set out in an executive decree, were announced on state television on Tuesday night. The order also dissolved the national legislature, the governments and assemblies of the country's 10 states, and the authorities in three administrative areas.

Kiir will remain president through the electoral period until a new head of state is sworn in. He has appointed caretaker ministers to oversee key portfolios, including foreign affairs, defence, cabinet affairs, interior, justice, national security, finance, petroleum, information and peace building.

The dissolution of the transitional government was envisaged under the road map to elections. The transitional period and the implementation of the 2018 peace agreement, which ended a deadly civil war, have been extended several times.

Kiir has previously drawn concern from observers with orders dismissing senior officials. He fired the chairperson of the National Elections Commission on Sept 15 without publicly giving a reason. Last year, he suspended Riek Machar as first vice president after justice authorities filed criminal charges over Machar's alleged role in an attack on a garrison of government troops. Machar's treason trial is ongoing and he denies the charges.

Kiir is expected to contest the presidential ballot. It remains unclear whether Machar, who is under house arrest, will be a candidate.

Amnesty International described the dissolution as a decisive step toward South Sudan's first elections but urged the authorities to protect civic space and human rights during the electoral period.

"The legitimacy of any election depends not only on whether it is held, but on whether people can exercise their rights freely, safely and equally," said Tigere Chagutah, an Amnesty official for east and southern Africa.

The rights group called on the authorities to guarantee freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, and to end what it described as intimidation of journalists, civil society actors and political opponents.

Policy analyst Abraham Awolich said the process violates the 2018 peace agreement when carried out "in one stroke without a new political settlement." He described the elections as far from democratic, free and fair, calling them a smoke screen for the consolidation of dictatorship and one-man rule.

Awolich warned that Kiir's unilateral decisions have pushed the country to the brink of war and of political and constitutional crises. He called for an all-inclusive, internationally mediated national political dialogue open to all political forces inside and outside the country, including civil society.

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said earlier this month that elections without safeguards and inclusive political dialogue could fuel renewed conflict.