Northern Bahr el Ghazal parliament speaker objects to dismissal
June 7, 2012 (JUBA) – The speaker of South Sudan’s state of Northern Bahr el Ghazal said on Thursday that he will not step-down without being informed of the reason why he has been called upon to vacate his parliamentary seat.
“If the same people who elected me have again decided that I should step down, then I have no objection. But one thing must be clear; I must be informed of what law I have breached to be asked to step down,” said Aguer Wol Aguer, speaker of the Northern Bahr el Ghazal Parliament.
He is accused of insubordination and failure by the Assembly to deliberate on the 2011/2012 state budget.
Aguer claimed that in his opinion his dismissal is linked to the stalled formation of a new state parliament.
He said that a power struggle taking place in the state parliament was delaying the formation of the cabinet.
He accused some members of the house of collaborating with other individual members in the cabinet in order to mobilise people to bring about his removal from power, as he did not block a motion to impeach the minister of finance, Ronald Ruay Deng, in 2011. He also claims that he is being victimised because of his stance on the taxation of MP’s salaries.
Aguer claimed that the dispute began in April when a group of around eight members plotted to drive him out of power.
He said he is prepared to step-down once the constitutional procedures are followed to impeach him, but that currently his opponents “have not been able to come up with single evidence.”
(ST)