JUBA, South Sudan, July 26 (UPI) -- The dismissal of South Sudan's cabinet has left a power vacuum in South Sudan, and government ministries are closed because employees say they fear violence.
President Salva Kiir Mayardit dissolved the cabinet and removed vice president Riek Machar Teny Tuesday, and the potential for reprisals -- and questions of who will be the next vice president -- have effectively stalled the government, the Sudan Tribune reported.
There are rumors in the capital, Juba, that Salva has left the country, but a former official dismissed the claims, saying he is consulting on the formation of the next government, the newspaper said.
The African Union Commission -- an intergovernmental development authority that includes Canada, Norway, Switzerland, the United States and the United Kingdom -- issued a joint statement calling for calm, and for South Sudan to expedite attempts to form a new cabinet "in conformity with its transitional constitution and the democratic ideals the new country has espoused."
