Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The SPLM-IO lawmakers in the Jonglei State Legislative Assembly have vowed to boycott the reopening of the state assembly without the speaker.
The appointment of the speaker of the Jonglei State Legislative Assembly, Amer Ateny, was revoked by President Salva Kiir on January 2023, and no replacement has been made since then.
Despite the vacuum created by Ateny’s exit and the SPLM-IO protest insisting on her reinstatement, the lawmakers are expected to resume the business of the house after spending about five months on recess.
But speaking in an interview with The City Review, Abel Nyuot Lok, the Chief Whip of SPLM-IO, said their members demand the appointment or reinstatement of the speaker before they can resume attendance.
“We boycott the reopening of the assembly due to the unilateral revocation of Rt. Hon. Amer Ateny, the speaker of the Jonglei State Legislative Assembly,” Lok said.
“It’s still early for us to talk about the reopening of the state assembly because the speaker has not yet been appointed. “Let’s wait for a little bit because the assembly can’t function without the speaker,” he added.
He stressed that it was unconstitutional for the deputy speaker to preside over the reopening of the assembly.
He said article 7.3 of Chapter 1 of the Assembly’s Conduct of Business dictates that no business of the parliament shall be transacted besides the appointment of the speaker when the office of the speaker is vacant.
“We shall not participate in the reopening of the August House while the previous resolution that led to the impeachment of the state minister of finance in a majority vote of no confidence cast against him on August 9th, 2022, by the August House has not been addressed by the governor,” the chief whip echoed.
Also, he called for the payment of the civil servant wages for July, August, and October 2021 and other arrears of constitutional post holders.
“For the party to join the reopening of the assembly, our demand must be heard, in our business conduct of the assembly. It is written that if the speaker is not appointed, nothing can be done,” he stated.
“For the boycott to be lifted, our demand should be addressed so that the assembly can fully function in the state, and the SPLM-IO Parliamentary caucus in Jonglei State reiterates its commitment to the agreement’s implementation,” he said.
This is not the first time SPLM-IO has boycotted assembly businesses, In June last year, the lawmakers in the national legislature boycotted sittings in the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) over the passing of the Political Parties Act, 2012 (Amendment) Bill, 2022, “without consensus” and “in contravention of the peace agreement.”
The SPLM-IO leadership termed the dismissal of Ateny as a “unilateral decision that violated the spirit of the peace agreement.”
“We appeal to the President of the Republic to review the decision he issued. “The leadership of the SPLM-IO asks him to allow to Amer Ateny to resume her duty as speaker in Jonglei State,” said Puok Baluang, the director of public relations and communication in the office of the First Vice President, Dr Riek Machar.
He added, “The revitalised peace agreement stipulates that each party that signed the peace agreement has the right to nominate or to revoke the appointment of its members in the positions stipulated in the agreement, whether they are at the national or state level, executive, legislative, and so on.
Source: The City Review South Sudan
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