Currently, the politics of Sudan takes place in the framework of a federal provisional government. Previously, a president was head of state, head of government, and commander-in-chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces in a de jure multi-party system. Legislative power was officially vested in both the government and in the two chambers, the National Assembly (lower) and the Council of States (higher), of the bicameral National Legislature. The judiciary is independent and obtained by the Constitutional Court. However, following a deadly civil war and the still ongoing genocide in Darfur, Sudan was widely recognized as a totalitarian state where all effective political power was held by President Omar al-Bashir and his National Congress Party (NCP). However, al-Bashir and the NCP were ousted in a military coup which occurred on April 11, 2019. The government of Sudan was then led by the Transitional Military Council or TMC. On 20 August 2019, the TMC dissolved giving its authority over to the Sovereignty Council of Sudan, who were planned to govern for 39 months until 2022, in the process of transitioning to democracy. However, the Sovereignty Council and the Sudanese government were dissolved in October 2021.
Salva Kiir Mayardit, also known as Salva Kiir, is a South Sudanese politician who has been the President of South Sudan since its independence on 9 July 2011. Prior to independence, he was the President of the Government of Southern Sudan, as well as First Vice President of Sudan, from 2005 to 2011. He was named Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in 2005, following the death of John Garang.
Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon is a South Sudanese politician who is serving as the First Vice President of South Sudan.
The Sudan People's Liberation Movement is a political party in South Sudan. It was initially founded as the political wing of the Sudan People's Liberation Army in 1983. On January 9, 2005 the SPLA, the SPLM and the Government of Sudan signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, ending the civil war. SPLM then obtained representation in the Government of Sudan, and was the main constituent of the Government of the then semi-autonomous Southern Sudan. When South Sudan became a sovereign state on 9 July 2011, SPLM became the ruling party of the new republic. SPLM branches in Sudan separated themselves from SPLM, forming the Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North. Further factionalism appeared as a result of the 2013–2014 South Sudanese Civil War, with President Salva Kiir leading the SPLM-Juba and former Vice President Riek Machar leading the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition.
General elections were held in Sudan between 11 and 15 April 2010, extended from the original end date of 13 April. The elections were held to elect the President and National Assembly of Sudan, as well as the President and Legislative Assembly of Southern Sudan. The election brought to the end the transitional period which began when the decades-long Second Sudanese Civil War ended in 2005.
Lieutenant General Nhial Deng Nhial is a South Sudanese politician and a member of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM). He was Minister of Foreign Affairs 2011 to 2013 and 2018 to 2019 after having served as the caretaker Minister of Defense since 10 July 2011. Prior to that he served as the pre-independence South Sudanese Minister of SPLA and Veteran Affairs, from 22 December 2008 until 9 July 2011.
Peter Lam Both has been the Governor of Latjoor, South Sudan since 24 December 2015. Both is the first governor of the state, which was created by President Salva Kiir on 2 October 2015.
The United Democratic Front is a political party in South Sudan. It is led by Peter Abdurahman Sule. The party was previously represented in the Interim National Assembly of Sudan and the South Sudan Legislative Assembly, where it held four seats.
The Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North, or SPLM–N, is a political party and militant organisation in the Republic of Sudan, based in the states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan. The group's armed forces are formally known as the Sudan People's Liberation Army–North or SPLA–N. As of 2017, its two factions, SPLM-N (Agar) and SPLM-N (al-Hilu) were engaged in fighting each other and against the government of Sudan, and as of 2023, the al-Hilu faction is fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), while the leader of the Agar faction was appointed into the military-run government.
The Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile was an armed conflict in the Sudanese states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North (SPLM-N), a northern affiliate of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in South Sudan. After some years of relative calm following the 2005 agreement which ended the second Sudanese civil war between the Sudanese government and SPLM rebels, fighting broke out again in the lead-up to South Sudan independence on 9 July 2011, starting in South Kordofan on 5 June and spreading to the neighboring Blue Nile state in September. SPLM-N, splitting from newly independent SPLM, took up arms against the inclusion of the two southern states in Sudan with no popular consultation and against the lack of democratic elections. The conflict is intertwined with the War in Darfur, since in November 2011 SPLM-N established a loose alliance with Darfuri rebels, called Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF).
Deng Alor Kuol is a South Sudanese politician. He has served as the minister of East African Community Affairs in President Salva Kiir Mayardit's government. He is a member of the Ngok Dinka ethnic group, and was born in Abyei region, an oil-producing border region between Northern and Southern Sudan.
Stephen Dhieu Dau Ayik is South Sudanese politician, banker by profession, and financial technocrat. He is a proven professional and held various cabinet positions in the Government of the Republic of South Sudan. He is a senior member of Sudan’s People Liberation Movement (SPLM) and had served in various cabinet positions. Stephen Dhieu Dau was the Minister of Finance and Planning until March 2018 in the RSS. He served as Minister of Petroleum and Mining and Minister of Commerce and Industry. Stephen Dhieu Dau is from Melut County, Upper Nile State, and belongs to the Nyiel section of the Padang Dinka ethnic group. In October 2022, President Salva Kiir appointed Stephen Dhieu Dau as the chairperson of the Board of Directors of the National Revenue Authority. In December 2022, He was appointed as a member of the SPLM Political Bureau.
Pa'gan Amum Okiech is a South Sudanese politician. He is the co-founder of South Sudan Reborn, a political organisation that attempts to bring peace to South Sudan and is the primary spokesperson. He is also the head of the SPLM-Former Detainees (SPLM-FD).
Joseph James Tombura was a South Sudanese politician and member of the Sudan African National Union. He was the president of the High Executive Council of the Southern Sudan Autonomous Region, serving from 23 June 1982 to 5 June 1983, until the Sudanese central government revoked the autonomy of that region. Autonomy was restored in 2005, and six years later, South Sudan became an independent nation.
Telar Ring Deng was a South Sudanese politician and statesman.
The South Sudanese Civil War was a multi-sided civil war in South Sudan between forces of the government and opposition forces. In December 2013, President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar and 10 others of attempting a coup d'état. Machar denied trying to start a coup and fled to lead the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO). Fighting broke out between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and SPLM-IO, igniting the civil war. Ugandan troops were deployed to fight alongside the South Sudanese government. The United Nations has peacekeepers in the country as part of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
Riek Gai Kok is a South Sudanese politician. He is a Lou Nuer, hailing from Chieng Man-nyang/Diang-nyang Akoba. A veteran politician, he has been a member of parliament in both Sudan and South Sudan. As of 2013, he served as Minister of Health of South Sudan.
The Dinka–Nuer West Bank Peace & Reconciliation Conference of 1999 was held in what was then the Southern part of Sudan. It is commonly called the "Wunlit Peace Conference" after Wunlit, the village where it was held in eastern Tonj County in Bahr El Ghazal. The conference brought together Nuer from Western Upper Nile and Dinka from Tonj, Rumbek, and Yirol. It is the most prominent and comprehensively documented case of a people-to-people peace process in what is now the Republic of South Sudan.
Onyoti Adigo Nyikec is a South Sudanese politician and the Minister of Livestock and Fisheries as of 2022.
Bona Malwal Madut Ring is a South Sudanese journalist, politician, and government official known for his advocacy for self-determination and secession for South Sudan. From the Dinka ethnic group, he pursued his education in journalism and economics in the United States, earning degrees from Indiana University and Columbia University. His career transitioned from an early stint as an Information Officer to journalism, including editor-in-chief positions at various Sudanese newspapers including the Southern Front's mouthpiece, The Vigilant.
