Africa-Press – South-Sudan. Parties to the Revitalized Peace Agreement have been urged to strictly adhere to the 35 percent women representation in the selection of speakers to legislative assemblies of the ten states and three administrative areas.
The Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution on Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) signed in 2018 obligated all the signatory parties to allocate at least 35 percent for women in leadership sharing positions.
Activist Edmund Yakani who heads the civil rights advocacy group, Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), revealed that parties to the agreement had started nominating their candidates for states peakers and were already violating the women affirmative action.
He warned against violating the 35 percent women allocation, saying it would amount to gross violation of the peace agreement itself. “I’m aware that parties are undermining the
implementation of 35 percent in the appointment of state speakers and deputy speakers, so my appeal goes to any party that is assigned to nominate the seat of speakership and deputy speakership to respect the 35 percent,” Yakani said.
He advised that the partiesSPLM-IGand SPLM-IO- both holding lion share in the agreement to appointat least two female speakers,and one female speaker respectively.
“I would like to see the SPLM- IG bringing for us two female state speakers and two female deputy speakers. The SPLM- IO should get
for us one female speaker and one female deputy speaker,comes the reconstitution of the states assemblies. We want at least 4 female speakers in the legislative assemblies of the 10 states and administrative areas,” he demanded. The other parties should also appoint women speakers out of their seats, he added.
