This archive report was first published on 10 May 2021.
South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has taken a significant step towards implementing a 2018 peace accord by dissolving Parliament. The move, announced on public television on Saturday evening, opens the way for lawmakers from opposing sides of the country's civil war to be appointed under the accord.
According to the agreement signed in September 2018 between Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar, the new Parliament will consist of 550 lawmakers, with the majority coming from Kiir's governing SPLM party. However, unlike traditional elections, these lawmakers will be nominated by their respective parties.
The dissolution of Parliament comes on the eve of a visit to the capital Juba by US special envoy to South Sudan Donald Booth. The US has expressed concern over the slow implementation of the peace accord, ongoing violence, and deteriorating economic and humanitarian conditions in the country.
President Kiir and VP Machar formed a coalition government on February 22, 2020, after nearly a year of delays. However, few provisions of the truce have been honoured, and analysts have warned of a return to war.
The oil-rich country remains severely underdeveloped and poorly managed, with brutal communal conflicts continuing despite the peace deal. In the last six months of 2020, more than 1,000 people were killed in violence between rival communities.
