Gov’t fails to reconstitute parliament on deadline day
“Their (SPLM-IO) list was submitted on the 22nd of December (2020), but we have not finalized the list. So, at this point there is no list that is ready apart from the one of the FDs,” Michael revealed.
In a February 3rd letter seen by The Insider, Presidential Affairs Minister Nhial Deng Nhial declared the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) would be reconstituted by Monday February 15th.
“The Ministry of Presidential Affairs hereby wishes to declare that the said meeting also resolved that the (R-TGONU) shall finalize the reconstitution of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (R-TNLA) and the Council of states on or before February 15, 2021.” Nhial wrote referring to a resolution reached on February 2nd, in a meeting of the Presidency.
The Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGONU) failed to deliver on its promise.
Neither the presidency nor minister Nhial has issued any communication to explain why the government could not reconstitute the parliament on time.
However, according to the National Constitutional Amendment Committee (NCAC), most parties to the Peace Agreement have not submitted their lists of nominees to the body as required by the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R – ARCISS) signed in August 2018.
Article 1.18.1.4 of the agreement mandates that the parties submit their lists of nominees to the NCAC, which shall submit the lists to President Salva Kiir who shall forward it to the TNLA.
Wani Michael, a member of the NCAC committee said only the Former Detainees (FDs) submitted a complete list.
He said even the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) submitted an incomplete list.
“Their (SPLM-IO) list was submitted on the 22nd of December (2020), but we have not finalized the list. So, at this point there is no list that is ready apart from the one of the FDs,” Michael revealed.
Michael said the SPLM-IO’s did not meet other terms of the nominations as stipulated in the agreement.
“They did not meet the 35 percent, we sent it (the list) back to them and they have not brought back the list to us as of this morning (Tuesday February 16th). Michael told The Insider saying he had not received updates on reconstitution of the parliament at the time.
Peace monitors have earlier urged parties to the peace agreement to submit their list of nominees to the NCAC for their due diligence in order to ensure the process of reconstitution of the TNLA was completed on time.
According to the 2018 Peace deal, the TNLA shall be expanded to 550 members.
The Incumbent TGoNU shall have 332 members, SPLM/A-IO with 128, the South Sudan Opposition Alliance party (SSOA) shall have 50, the Other Political Parties (OPP) with 30, and the FDs shall have10 members all together.
With less than a week to the first anniversary marking the beginning of the transitional period, so many deadlines have already been missed.
Even with the recent extensions of the transitions period, the Peace implementation is still moving at a snail pace.
According to the implementation matrix, many provisions should have been completed by now.
The State and local governments have not been fully established up to date. Graduation of the unified forces is yet to take place, even though the agreement requires that forces be deployed to take charge of security in the major towns across the country.
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