South Sudan is just six weeks away from its first national vote since independence, but the United Nations is warning that the real test will come after polling day.

With South Sudan six weeks away from its first national vote since independence, the head of the UN mission there told the Security Council that the real test is whether the country’s political transition holds together beyond polling day.

“The central challenge facing South Sudan today is whether the transition remains anchored in the Revitalized Peace Agreement and whether the gains of recent years can be preserved and sustained beyond the election,” said Anita Kiki Gbeho, head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) briefing Member States today (10 Nov) in New York.

The elections are set for 22 December. In September, President Salva Kiir dissolved the transitional unity government, removed all vice-presidents, including First Vice-President Riek Machar, and appointed a caretaker administration. Opposition groups have rejected the moves as breaching the power-sharing terms of the 2018 peace agreement.