By Philip Buda Ladu
Speaker of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) said President Salva Kiir Mayardit has ordered the parliament to continue with its second session of sitting, suspending their three-month recess.
According to the TNLA’s conduct of business regulation, the national assembly was supposed to have gone for three months of recess on June 30, 2024, after finishing its first session sittings.
However, House Speaker Rt. Hon. Jemma Nunu Kumba, who consulted the president about their recess, said they were told to proceed with the second session due to the backlog of bills that are of paramount importance.
Nunu got the directive on Friday after she submitted four important ratified bills, including the National Security Service Act 2014 (amended 2024), for assent into law by the president.
In her briefing to state-run SSBC radio and TV, the Rt. Speaker stated that she consulted H.E., the President, on the issue of parliament recess.
“We are supposed to go on recess for three months, and that is done in consultation with the president,” she said in her briefing to state-run SSBC radio and TV after meeting Kiir.
“Accordingly, the presidency has directed that we continue sitting with the second session because we have a lot of work that does not allow us to go for recess.”
Oliver Mori Benjamin, spokesperson of the TNLA, alluded in an exclusive interview with the No. 1 Citizen Daily Newspaper to the fact that there are a lot of bills that are necessary for the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.
He hinted that the bills are in parliament and require the August House’s urgent attention.
“So the president thought it wise that these bills must be looked into to pave the way for the elections that are going to come in December,” Mori stated. “These bills are very necessary to be done; that’s why the parliament will not go for recess.”
The assembly spokesman highlighted that there are many crucial bills—a minimum of six—currently laying with the respective parliamentary specialized committees.
According to Mori, the Parliament would have gone for a three-month recess as they had completed the first three months of the first session, but because of these urgent bills pending, they will be continuing now in the second session.
“The parliament is supposed to go on recess on the 30th of June and return after three months. We are three months on, three months off, according to TNLA Conduct of Business Regulation,” Mori further explained.
He noted that the Assembly Business Committee (ABC) will soon sit to determine the most urgent work to be done by the house, stating that “definitely by next Thursday there will be an ABC meeting to identify the top priorities to be handled immediately.
Top among the bills parliament is required to deliberate on and ratify with immediacy is the national fiscal year budget 2024-2025, which is yet to be passed by the council of ministers before coming to the floor of parliament.
This is aggravated by the fact that the government is now operating without an approved budget since the previous FY 2023–24 budget was closed on June 30th, 2024, which would have been replaced by the yet-to-be-tabled new budget.
Another key bill critical for peace implementation is the permanent constitution, which is still outstanding with no clear updates on what extent its drafting process has reached as the anticipated December 22, 2024, election date looms.
These, among many other bills related to the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement that reforms in public institutions, are probably the ones that President Salva Kiir wants tackled with urgency.