By Deng Machol
JUBA, South Sudan — President Salva Kiir has signed into law the National Elections Act, 2012 (Amendment) Bill, 2026, hours after its passage by parliament, introducing changes to the country’s electoral framework ahead of general elections scheduled for December 22.
The amendments address key legal and institutional questions surrounding South Sudan’s long-delayed political transition, including the tenure of the president and vice presidents, the composition of parliament, voting rights for citizens abroad and the administration of elections.
Under the amended legislation, President Kiir will remain in office with full constitutional powers throughout the electoral period until an elected president assumes office. The first vice president and four other vice presidents, however, are required to leave office three months before the elections.
The provision has attracted scrutiny because South Sudan’s transitional government was established under the 2018 peace agreement, which created the current arrangement of five vice presidents as part of a power-sharing framework intended to end years of civil conflict.
The legislation also provides for a 332-member National Legislative Assembly, with 50 percent of seats filled through elections in geographical constituencies, 35 percent through proportional representation from women’s closed party lists and 15 percent through other closed party lists. An additional 66 appointed members will represent veterans, organised forces, minorities and people with special needs.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, Minister of Presidential Affairs Africano Mande Gedima said the amendments were intended to harmonise inconsistencies in the existing electoral legislation and bring it into alignment with the Transitional Constitution of South Sudan, 2011, as amended.
The revised law also operationalises the principle of delinking elections from the permanent constitution-making process and the national census, allowing electoral preparations to proceed without waiting for the completion of those two transitional requirements.
Other provisions extend voting rights to eligible South Sudanese living abroad and introduce changes to electoral administration at state and administrative-area levels.
The legislation was debated against a backdrop of disagreements over the size and cost of government institutions. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Michael Makuei Lueth argued that reducing the size of government was necessary, linking the expansion of public institutions to the country’s employment challenges.
“One of the causes of the unemployment here in South Sudan is all these huge institutions,” Makuei said during the parliamentary debate.
The amended framework also provides for 580 lawmakers across South Sudan’s 10 state legislatures, establishing the proposed composition of subnational legislative institutions ahead of the vote.
The National Elections Commission announced December 22 as the election date in June and has since been conducting preparations, including training state election committees on voter registration and other electoral procedures.
The signing comes at a particularly consequential moment in South Sudan’s transition, with the country approaching the three-month mark before the scheduled elections. Existing electoral provisions had required the dissolution of national and state legislatures and governments within three months of an election, making the question of continuity in office a central issue in the latest legislative changes.
South Sudan has repeatedly postponed elections since gaining independence in 2011, with political disagreements, insecurity and delays in implementing the 2018 peace agreement complicating successive electoral timetables. The December vote is intended to mark a transition from the current power-sharing arrangement to an elected government.
The presidential assent removes a legislative hurdle, although the conduct of the elections will also depend on the completion of electoral preparations and the implementation of the amended legal framework.
Editorial accuracy note: Two details in the original draft need correction before publication. South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation reports that the signed law provides for a 270-member National Legislative Assembly, although an earlier parliamentary report cited 332 members. The signed law also gives Kiir the power to relieve the vice presidents within three months of the election; it does not establish their automatic removal. The relevant paragraphs above should be updated accordingly.
The South Sudan Opposition Alliance has also publicly objected to the amendment process, arguing that the peace agreement’s signatories were not adequately consulted. This provides an additional perspective for a balanced account.
