The National Legislative Assembly received a bill on Monday which calls for a nine month mandate extension of the National Constitutional Review Commission.

MPs were urgently called to the assembly to receive the Bill, introduced by the Minister for Justice, before their recess.  They were asked to return to Juba on February 21 to deliberations.

Minister John Luk Jok told the MPs that although they were due to take recess, they should work hard in order that the National Constitutional Review Commission does not operate within a legal vacuum.

The commission is responsible for overseeing and submitting a draft permanent constitution to the president in order to replace the current transitionary document.

Meanwhile, South Sudan’s ruling party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) has announced that it is to hold an ‘extraordinary convention’ on February 25^th in order to approve its own updated constitution.

The convention will allow party members who attended the second national convention in 2008 to review this document as well as their manifesto, code of conduct, financial rules and regulations and to vote in party elections.

File photo: Central Equatoria Legislative Assembly