Kiir is unhappy over ‘distortion’ of parliamentary nomination process – official

JUBA – South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit is reportedly furious on the Secretary-General of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) faction Jemma Nunu Kumba over distortion of the nomination process of the members of the newly formed Reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly (R-TNLA).

This comes after many of the 170 members of parliament who were elected on the ticket of the SPLM party during the 2010 elections were not reappointed when President Kiir reconstituted the parliament last month sparking outrage among the elected lawmakers who argue that the revitalized peace agreement does not provides for their exclusion.

When contacted by a Sudans Post reporter on why the newly-appointed lawmakers are not being sworn in, a senior government official with knowledge of why the swearing in ceremony is being delayed said President Salva Kiir Mayardit is working on replacing some lawmakers who were not elected in 2010, but were appointed without his intention last month.

“As I speak to you, there are a lot of things going on in the party. The president of the Republic who is also the chairman of the party is working to replace some lawmakers who were appointed on the ticket of the SPLM party at the expense of their predecessors who were elected into parliament in 2010,” the official who requested not to be named stated.

He said President Salva Kiir Mayardit is not happy with Kumba and has asked the acting secretary-general for explanation as this decision to replace the elected lawmakers is causing disagreements, something he said can result into the isolation of the president by some close allies within the parliament.

“This is not a good news for the president when some people who were elected and have strong connections to the community are left behind. So, because the president is not happy about that, I mean this distortion of the process by some leaders of the party, he has asked the general secretariat for explanation,” the official further added.

The alleged furry by President Kiir over the nomination process within the SPLM party comes a week after the SPLM spokesman Peter Lam Both claimed in an interview with the Juba-based Radio Miraya that the elected lawmakers do not have any right under the 2018 peace agreement to be reappointed when the parliament is reconstituted and said any person who was reappointed was just privileged by the party.

However, the revitalized peace agreement does not provides for replacement of the elected lawmakers and only states that “the TNLA shall be expanded to five hundred and fifty (550) members and shall be reconstituted” by allocating 332 members to the former incumbent TGONU, 128 to the main armed opposition SPLM-IO, 50 to the South Sudan Opposition Alliance, 30 to the OPP and 10 members to the former SPLM detainees.

Separately, the leader of the National Alliance of Political Parties Kornelio Kon Ngu, who is also a leading member of the Other Political Parties (OPP) led by Peter Mayen Majongdit said there are disagreements within the ruling SPLM party and within his own OPP as well, saying President Salva Kiir had instructed the SPLM secretariat to nominated all the 170 lawmakers who were elected in 2010, but felt that his directives were not implemented after the lawmakers were left behind.

“There are several issues that have contributed to the delay of the swearing-in of the appointed MPs. There are complaints from the SPLM and OPP. The president had instructed that all 170 members who have been elected during the 2010 elections should be the priority of the appointment. But this directive was not observed,” Kon said according to Radio Tamazuj.

“When the list of the nominees came out, it was not per the directive of the president. Many nominees were relatives of some leaders and they were announced. The president felt that his directive was not put into action. This has contributed to the delay of the swearing-in of the appointed MPs,” he added.