Kiir decrees new OPP members into parliament – state TV

JUBA – South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit has on Friday evening issued a Republican Decree appointing at least twenty-eight (28) politicians from the Other Political Parties (OPP) into the Reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly (R-TNLA), according to the state-run South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC).

In a separate decree, the South Sudanese head of state appointed eight (8) other politicians to the Reconstituted Transitional Council of States, bringing to an end an internal dispute within the rank and file of the OPP over selection criteria of the members of the OPP in parliament.

President Salva Kiir Mayardit reconstituted the R-TNLA and the Council of States in May and July respectively. Kiir in mid-July revoked the appointment thirty (30) members of parliament mostly from the OPP after an initial list presented to the president sparked internal rifts within the OPP.

Yesterday Thursday, Peter Mayen, the leader of the OPP and the minister of humanitarian affairs and disaster management said in statements to SSBC along with information minister and government spokesman Michael Makuei Lueth that the OPP dispute had been resolved and that he was going to issue another list to the president.

Based on the revitalized peace agreement, parties to the deal shall expand the transitional assembly from 400 to 550 with SPLM-IG taking the lion’s share with 332 members, SPLA-IO, 128, SSOA, 50, OPP 30, and SPLM former detainees, also known as G-10, taking the remaining ten (10) seats.