By Reuters
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has reshuffled the senior leadership in the ruling party, according to an official decree, as the country faces fresh fighting between rival armed factions and widespread speculation about Kiir’s succession plans.
Kiir, 73, promoted sanctioned ally Second Vice President Benjamin Bol Mel as his SPLM party’s deputy chairperson, according to a decree read on the state broadcaster on Tuesday night, weeks after the United Nations said the country was on the brink of civil war.
Seen widely by political analysts as Kiir’s chosen successor, Bol Mel was sanctioned by the United States in 2017 over suspicions his construction company received preferential treatment in the awarding of government contracts.
If Kiir stepped down, Bol Mel’s new role as the SPLM party’s deputy chairperson would make him acting president of the country.
The reshuffle follows months of political uncertainty in which authorities placed Kiir’s longtime rival First
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