Why South Sudan has exploded in violence PaanLuel Wël 10 years ago This was the dilemma that confronted Salva Kiir. The SPLM was supposed to hold its general convention in 2013 to elect a chairman and the party’s presidential nominee for the 2015 election. The holding of the convention would help to regulate the competition for power that was building among top regime elites. If it were to reaffirm Kiir’s chairmanship of the party, it could also go a long way toward consolidating Kiir’s power vis-à-vis his rivals. But Kiir increasingly feared the possibility that the party might not reelect him as party chairman and would instead swing its support to Machar or Amum, the secretary general. In the face of such a possibility, Kiir maneuvered to undermine the party’s institutions. For example, he refused to call to order party organs in which he might be outvoted, such as the SPLM’s political bureau. He also tried to manipulate the convention rules to prohibit the secret ballot.Finally, he dismantled party structures and postponed the convention indefinitely. In short, Kiir rejected party rule for personal rule. In doing so, he managed to maintain his position as head of the SPLM, at the cost of leaving the power struggle at the apex of the regime unresolved and intensifying his own strategic uncertainty. The cost is that he has now brought South Sudan to the brink of civil war. Share this:Print President Kiir’s speech at SPLM extraodinary conventionDateJanuary 15, 2016In relation toSpeechesSPLM’s Leadership Contest: Is President Kiir Getting Rid of Political Rivals (Dr. Machar, Pagan Amum and Madam Nyandeng)?DateNovember 15, 2013In relation toFeatured ArticlesPress Statement from the SPLM-Friday Faction (Riek-group)DateDecember 7, 2013In relation toHistory