JUBA – In a press release sent directly to Ethio Insight, the United People’s Alliance (UPA) office of the chairperson has issued a declaration signed by its Chairman, Gen. Pagan Amum Okiech, strongly condemning President Salva Kiir Mayardit over the dissolution of key bodies under the Reconstituted Transitional Unity Government, the national legislature, and state governments.
The opposition alliance characterized the recent structural changes and the installment of a handpicked caretaker administration as a total seizure of state power by President Kiir. The UPA asserted that stripping away the agreed power-sharing framework dismantles the legal foundation of the regime’s transitional legitimacy and halts the search for genuine peace in South Sudan.
The press statement explicitly declared the general elections scheduled for December 22, 2026, a sham, warning that rushing the country into arbitrary polls without broad political consensus is an attempt to abort democratic accountability. The group argued that credible elections cannot occur without completing essential structural prerequisites:
- Permanent Constitution-Making Process: The alliance emphasized that holding polls under a manipulated, non-permanent framework denies citizens their sovereign right to establish constitutional order.
- Security Sector Reforms: The UPA stressed that non-partisan national army and law enforcement agencies must be established before voting, warning that current widespread insecurity, civilian arms proliferation, and rival armies risk total state collapse into warlordism.
- Return of Displaced Populations: Millions of displaced citizens and refugees currently enduring severe humanitarian distress would be disenfranchised without a proper population census, voter registry, and constituency demarcation.
- Open Civic Space: The opposition highlighted ongoing violations of freedom of expression and assembly, noting that rivals and civil society leaders face continuous intimidation, arrest, and prosecution.
Warning that exclusionary elections could plunge South Sudan into an unprecedented civil war, the UPA called on the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the African Union, the United Nations, and international partners to reject the planned process. The alliance urged citizens to boycott the December vote and demanded an immediate, inclusive National Political Dialogue to form a neutral caretaker government tasked with restoring security, leading constitutional reform, and preparing the country for a viable democratic transition.
