At least five South Sudanese politicians have declared or previously expressed interest in contesting the presidency, as the country prepares for general elections scheduled for December 22, 2026. President Salva Kiir, 82, the incumbent, has led South Sudan since its independence in 2011 and was the country’s leader even before that, taking over the southern regional government in 2005 after the death of SPLM founder John Garang.
He has been formally endorsed by the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement as its presidential candidate for December. He has never faced a South Sudanese electorate, having held power continuously through selection, transition, and now dissolution, not, until this vote, through a ballot.
