By Taban Henry
South Sudan First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar and the Chair of the Governance Cluster in the unity government is ready to meet President Salva Kiir to resolve the discrepancies of the Opposition lawmakers over passing of the political parties Act (amendment) Bill 2022.
Earlier last week lawmakers of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) boycotted parliamentary sittings over what they called alteration of the Political Parties Act Amendment Bill 2022 that was passed on May 30th 2022.
Yet again, on Monday the SPLM-IO members of parliament assembled at the Freedom Hall and held a press conference to declare publicly their intention of protesting against what they believed to be unfair legislation of the Bill.
During the assembly’s ordinary sitting No. 9/2022 the political parties Act Amendment Bill 2022 was tabled to the house and subsequently passed, however, the opposition MPs had protested during the debate saying there is lack of consensus and a violation of the agreement when the committee on legislation and justice amended some sections of the Bill.
The Rt. Hon. Speaker of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly Jemma Nunu Kumba adjourned the parliamentary sitting No.13/2022 on Monday due to the absence of the striking SPLM-IO lawmakers in the house despite the quorum being made.
Speaker Nunu then announced upon the adjournment of the sitting that the issues raised by the opposition lawmakers could not be handled by the parliament leadership, but rather she will forward them to the principals.
Meanwhile, Puok Both Balung, the Director of Information in the office of the First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar told No.1 Citizen Daily Newspaper, in an exclusive interview that FVP and Chairman of the SPLM-IO party Dr. Machar is ready to meet with President Salva Kiir Maryardit and resolve the recent disagreement in the August House.
“The president has been notified by the first Vice president and therefore we are waiting for the confirmation for us to discuss this issue majorly on the general implementation of the peace agreement there is no way other than the implementation of the peace agreement,” he stated.
Both said the issue looks critical adding that the members of the Sudan People Liberation Movement in government and their leadership are trying to rectify the bills especially for the political parties act.
“According to the agreement all the bills are only to be rectified and if there are corrections but they are not questioned for amendment. So what occurred in the parliament is a violation of the agreement. The president was notified of the violation that has been done by the government so that discussion has to take place by the two principals,” he affirmed.
The Director General for Information in the office of the first Vice President assured the people of South Sudan to commit to the act to attain peace and stability.
“The Revitalized Agreement is a transformation document that will elevate this country to handle the root causes of the conflict so all the parties must adhere to it,” Mr. Baluang emphasized.