South Sudan: First lesson on elections but don’t expect democracy to settle yet

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Election day expected: December 2024

There have never been elections in South Sudan since the country was founded in 2011. Initially scheduled for 2015, they were postponed to 2024 by power. No date has yet been set and yet another postponement cannot be ruled out.

The 9 July 2015 general elections were canceled due to an alleged coup attempt and ongoing conflict, compounded by the absence of a permanent constitution. In April 2015, the South Sudan parliament, responding to these challenges, voted to amend the transitional 2011 constitution. The amendment extended the presidential and parliamentary terms until 9 July 2018, with 264 members in favor and a few in opposition.

Subsequently, the election date was further postponed to 2021 in July 2018. Following the conclusion of the civil war and the subsequent peace agreement, a three-year transitional period was established, culminating in planned elections in 2023. However, in 2022, the transitional government and the opposition reached an agreement to defer the elections to late 2024. This series of adjustments reflects the complex and evolving political landscape in South Sudan.

(c) MondAfrique

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General elections are due to be held in on 22 December 2026, the first since independence.

Initially scheduled to be held by 9 July 2015, in light of an alleged coup d'état attempt and this was thrown into doubt, especially since no permanent constitution had been formulated. The South Sudan parliament voted in April 2015 to amend the country's transitional to extend the presidential and parliamentary term until 9 July 2018, with 264 members in favour and a handful opposing it. It was postponed again to 2021 in July 2018. Following the peace agreement that ended the , a transitional period of three years was agreed on, which would be followed by elections in 2023. In 2022, the transitional government and opposition agreed to move it to late 2024. In September 2024, the government ordered the elections to be postponed until 22 December 2026, citing the need to complete institutional processes such the creation of a census and a permanent constitution and the registration of political parties.

Background

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Following the , was inaugurated as the first to . In July 2013, the entire , including Machar, was dismissed by Kiir on the ostensible reason to decrease the size of government. However, Machar said that this was a step towards dictatorship on the part of Kiir and that he would seek to challenge Kiir for the presidency. In December 2013 a related was put down. While ensued, at the end of September 2014 an -mediated resolution was agreed upon that would lead to the of the country's governance.

The required the election to be held by 9 July 2015, the date on which the first post-independence presidential term ends. Kiir told the parliament that a lack of funds to conduct a census and complete the new constitution could result in a delay of the election. This caused doubts as to Kiir's intention to merely hold on to power and was coupled with the dismissal of the Governor of on allegation that he would back Machar in replacing Kiir as the SPLM chairperson and therefore the party’s candidate for the election, though Gai denied this. Since the coup, 's son also mentioned that as the could not write a permanent , the scheduled 2015 date for the election would not be met.

Additionally, the U.S. envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, Donald Booth, held talks with the chairperson of the National Elections Commission, Abednego Akok Kacuol, and the chairperson of the National Bureau of Statistics, Isaiah Chol Aruai, in order to call for sticking to the allotted date and the provision of funds to complete the necessary prerequisites.

The South Sudan parliament voted in April 2015 to amend the country's transitional 2011 constitution to extend the presidential and parliamentary term until 9 July 2018.

Electoral system

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The is elected via the . If no candidate obtains over half of valid votes cast, another round must be held within 60 days between the two candidates that obtained the most votes. To be eligible for election, a candidate must be a South Sudanese citizen by birth, be "of sound mind", be 40 years of age or older, be literate, and not have been convicted of a criminal offence involving "fraud, dishonesty, or moral turpitude". They must also obtain signatures from 10,000 voters across at least seven , with at least 200 voters from each state. The same applies for the election of Governors, except only 5,000 voters from at least half of that state's counties (with at least 100 voters from each county) are required.

The 332 members of the shall be comprised in the following manner:

  • 158 elected in single-member constituencies via ,
  • 110 elected via using the from women-only lists at a national level,
  • 47 elected via closed-list proportional representation using the at a national level,
  • 17 appointed by the elected President.

As such, each voter will be given three ballots (one for their constituency, one of women's party lists, and one of general party lists). To be eligible for proportional representation seats, a list must 4% of valid votes.

The members of the are indirectly elected, with each state's legislative assembly appointing five members and each administrative area's legislative council appointing two members.

State legislative assemblies are elected in a similar manner to the National Legislative Assembly, without any appointed seats:

  • 50% of seats are elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting
  • 35% of seats are elected via closed-list proportional representation using the divisor method from women-only lists at a state level
  • 15% of seats are elected via closed-list proportional representation using the divisor method at a state level.

Each candidate (in the case of single-member elections) and party (in the case of party-list elections) is allocated their own electoral symbol, and independent candidates are allowed to stand as long as they have not been a member of a political party for at least three months prior to the election.

Presidential candidates

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Announced

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  • Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)
    • , current South Sudanese President
  • Kush Democratic Majority Party
    • Bol Gai Deng
  • People's Liberal Party (PLP)
  • Common People’s Alliance
    • Deng Bol Aruei
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