SPLM-IO MPs to boycott all parliament sitting over crucial bills
June 13, 2022 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s main opposition party (SPLM-IO) lawmaker will boycott sittings in the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) unless certain matter are addressed, a senior official said.
The SPLM-IO deputy chairperson, Nathaniel Oyet Pierino said on Monday that TNLA passed the Political Parties Act, 2012 (Amendment) Bill, 2022 “without consensus” and “in contravention of the peace agreement”.
He said his party and the Other Political Parties (OPP) parliamentary caucus in the TNLA wrote to the speaker on May 31, 2022 and opposed the ruling.
“The Rt. Hon. Speaker did not respond to the letter. The lack of response prompted the SPLM-IO parliamentary caucus to stage a boycott of sitting,” Oyet, also the First Deputy Speaker of the TNLA, told reporters in Juba.
According to the SPLM-IO official, a meeting was convened on June 12, 2022, during which the party’s parliamentary caucus resolve to continue boycotting the sittings as well as various duties and assignments in the TNLA.
He accused the ruling party (SPLM) of allegedly tampering with bills drafted by the country National Constitutional Amendment Committee (NCAC).
“It is important to reiterate that the agreement states clearly that the bills drafted NCAC should not be tempered with but should only be ratified by the Transitional National Legislative Assembly,” stressed Oyet.
He added, “Our boycott shall only be lifted after this matter is addressed”.
Nhial Bol Akeen, a lawmaker representing the SPLM-IO, said the bill was not subjected to voting, but approved by the speaker based on voices from SPLM.
“We decided to suspend our participation because of the way the debate about the bill was being managed. There were reservations which we wanted to discuss at length so that a solution is found amicably but the speaker and her group decided to hurry the procedures,” he explained.
For his part, John Agany, the chairperson of the specialized committee on information and communications in the TNLA confirmed that some legislators boycotted the proceeding after all the members had agreed to pass the bill.
“It is not true. The members of the SPLM-IO were in the deliberation and they even participated but when it came a time to terminate the debate, they decided to walk out and we were surprised,” he told reporters in Juba on Monday.
The lawmaker, however, attributed the dispute to how to source finances for political parties and the conditions for a party to be legally registered.
The Political Parties Act stipulates that for a political party to be registered, it must have at least 500 members from each of the 10 states, yet others are proposing 300.
Another contentious matter was the way a budget could be allocated. For example, while some members preferred using the outcome of a general election, others opposed the approach on the basis that results of the result should not determine how a budget is allocated to activities of political parties.
(ST)