EXCLUSIVE | Elected lawmakers being considered for reappointment

JUBA – Members of South Sudan parliament who were elected during the 2010 elections are now being considered for reappointment once again, a month after President Salva Kiir Mayardit reconstituted the parliament as part of an arrangement provided for in the revitalized peace agreement, an official who is informed of an ongoing process said.

In May, Kiir dissolved and reconstituted the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) appointing over 500 officials representing different parties, that are signatory to the revitalized peace agreement, into the parliament, but most lawmakers – among which are those elected during the 2010 elections – were not reappointed.

The decision by President Salva Kiir’s SPLM faction to exclude the elected members of parliament from being reappointed reportedly sparked anger within the ruling party with some saying that the replacement by Kiir was unconstitutional and does not conform to the revitalized peace deal.

The 2018 peace agreement does not provides for replacement of the elected lawmakers, but only said the current parliament will be reconstituted and its membership extended from 400 to 550 lawmakers which will be divided between different stakeholders of the deal that ended the seven-year-old conflict in February 2020.

Speaking to Sudans Post this morning, one government official who is informed of the matter said a committee has been formed under directives of President Salva Kiir Mayardit to probe circumstances in which the elected lawmakers who are still members of the SPLM party were not reappointed into parliament.

“There is currently a process being done under directives of President Salva Kiir Mayardit to reconsider the decision to exclude those MPs who were elected during the 2010 elections. There is a committee and that committee has met some of the lawmakers and will continue to do that in the coming week,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

“That is why now the Council of States has not been reconstituted. When the process is completed and there is an established and concrete reason to reappoint them, then the President of the Republic Salva Kiir Mayardit will take a decision to return them to parliament,” the official added.

Asked as to whether some of the lawmakers who were appointed last month to the parliament will be replaced or the parliament is to be extended, the official replied that “this is a sensitive matter and I am not able to comment further than I have said: There is a committee and when the committee completed its work, the president will make a decision.”