South Sudan forms committee to vet regional lawmakers
July 26, 2017 (JUBA) – South Sudan has formed a parliamentary committee to scrutinise the manner in which candidates nominated to the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) were initially selected.
Official campaigns, Makana said, begin on Monday next week before elections, scheduled for 1 August, take place in Parliament.
The competition is open to all parliamentarians, regardless of political affiliations, the speaker told the state-owned SSBC television.
The election of new regional lawmakers barely a month after the house revoked a presidential decree, which appointed nine members to the East African Legislative after it became clear that the members would not be sworn in following a petition from a lawyer questioning the manner in which the process was conducted.
13 members were initially nominated South Sudan’s ruling party, one from the other political parties and six from the armed opposition.
The decision of parliament to revoke presidential decree came in the wake of a ruling against the decision of South Sudan and a member of the regional trading bloc by its Court of Justice (EACJ).
The new process would now ensure whether all aspirating members have met requirements for elections, according to the East African Treaty.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the People’s Liberal Party threatened to block the nomination of members representing the country’s armed opposition faction taking part in the coalition, arguing that their political legality remains unclear.
All nominated candidates received a briefing on the procedure of the regional assembly election rules from their respective chief whips on Wednesday.
Under Article 50 of the East African Treaty, the National Assembly of each Partner State shall elect, not from among its members, nine members of the Assembly, who shall represent as much as it is feasible, the various political parties represented in the National Assembly, shades of opinion, gender and other special interest groups in that Partner State, in accordance with such procedure as the National Assembly of each Partner State may determine.
South Sudan officially joined the East African Community (EAC) last year.
(ST)