South Sudan President signs amendment to enable 2026 elections

President Salva Kiir Mayardit has signed Constitutional Amendment No. 13, a move designed to facilitate South Sudan’s general elections scheduled for December 22, 2026. The amendment, which passed through the Transitional National Legislative Assembly, legally decouples the national elections from two major processes: the completion of the permanent constitution-making process and the National Population and Housing Census.

Government officials argue that removing these requirements as prerequisites for voting prevents further delays, as both a census and a full constitutional process could take over a year to complete. By separating these tasks, the government aims to allow voter registration to proceed within months, avoiding the repeated postponements that have occurred since 2015.

The legislative process for these changes began in July 2026 with amendments to the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS). The recent constitutional amendment follows these political agreements and was passed by Parliament on September 1 before receiving presidential assent.