Salva Kiir Mayardit Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==South Sudanese politics== Following the signing of the [[Comprehensive Peace Agreement]] formally ending the war in January 2005, Garang was sworn in as the Vice President of the Republic of Sudan. After the death of Garang in a helicopter crash on 30 July 2005, Kiir was chosen to succeed to the post of First [[Vice President of Sudan]] and President of Southern Sudan. Before independence, Kiir was popular among the military wing of the SPLA/M for his loyalty to the vision of the SPLA/M throughout the liberation struggle and among those who do not trust the successive governments that have come and gone in the Sudan.<ref name=BBC/> Comments by Kiir in October 2009 that the forthcoming independence referendum was a choice between being "a second class in your own country" or "a free person in your independent state" were expected to further strain political tensions.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE59U1FT20091031|title=S. Sudan president makes first call for independence|work=[[Reuters]]|date=31 October 2009|access-date=26 January 2010}}</ref> Reports in January 2010 that Kiir would not contest April elections for Sudanese president, but would focus on re-election as president of Southern Sudan were interpreted to mean that the SPLM priority was independence.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8468760.stm|title=Sudan would accept separation, says President Bashir|work=BBC News|date=19 January 2010|access-date=26 January 2010}}</ref> Kiir was re-elected with 93% of the vote in the [[2010 South Sudanese general election|2010 South Sudanese election]]. Although the vote on both the national and sub-national level was criticized by democratic activists and international observers, the overwhelming margin of Kiir's re-election was noted by some media as being "Step One" in the process of secession.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/world/africa/27sudan.html?hp|work=The New York Times|title=Bashir Wins Election as Sudan Edges Toward Split|first=Jeffrey|last=Gettleman|date=26 April 2010}}</ref> Following his re-election, [[Omar al-Bashir]] reappointed Kiir as the First Vice President of Sudan in accordance with the interim constitution.<ref name="sudantribune">{{cite news |url=http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article35230|title=Salva Kiir and Ali Osman appointed deputies of Sudan's President|publisher=Sudan Tribune|date=29 May 2010}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page