South Sudan: Creation of New States Draws Opposition Protests

President Salva Kiir dissolved South Sudan^[1]’s 10 states and created 28 new ones late Thursday night, a move that critics say threatens the peace deal signed in August to end the country’s two-year civil war. The announcement of the president’s decree was broadcast by the state-run South Sudan Television and came after 150 rebels returned to the capital, Juba, on Monday in accordance with the peace deal signed by Mr. Kiir and the rebel leader, Riek Machar. That deal rests on power-sharing arrangements in the original 10 states. Lam Akol, the leader of South Sudan’s official political opposition, said the decree was unconstitutional because it violated the peace agreement and because Parliament, not the president, had the power to change state borders. South Sudan’s civil war began in 2013. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the fighting, which has also displaced more than two million people from their homes.

References

1. ^{^} More articles about South Sudan. (topics.nytimes.com)