South Sudan’s cabinet is expected to be unveiled on Friday, which is seen as a key step in constituting the transitional government.
“The SPLM-IO could deliver their list today (Thursday) and then the announcement be made tomorrow,” Augostino Njoroge, interim chairman of the Revitalized Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC), told Radio Tamazuj this afternoon.
The peace monitor pointed out that the formation of a transitional unity government requires much work, urging the people of South Sudan to remain patient.
“The issue of ministerial appointments lies in the hands of the parties to the peace agreement. But in all my interactions with the parties, I have urged trust and confidence-building,” Njoroge said.
He added, “Through my interactions with His Excellency the President, and His Excellency the First Vice President, I am assured that the R-TGoNU will be announced at the end of this week and that there are no political issues that could cause any further delay.”
Mr. Njoroge urged all parties to the revitalized peace deal to uphold their commitments to the peace process in South Sudan.
Manawa Peter Gatkuoth, deputy spokesman of the opposition SPLM-IO, said they had submitted the list of cabinet nominees to President Salva Kiir through Tut Gatluak, the presidential advisor on national security affairs.
“We have submitted our list of cabinet nominees today morning. So, the announcement of the transitional cabinet is now left to the president,” he said.
He added,” We have finalized the selection of individuals to be appointed in the cabinet. We have nominated nine ministers, three deputy ministers and three state governors.”
The opposition official stated that they are still working on the final list of MP nominees.
President Kiir formed the presidency on February 22 and swore Riek Machar, leader of the main opposition group as first vice president including other four vice presidents as stipulated in the peace deal, and since then the parties have continued to negotiate on cabinet sharing.
Under the peace deal, the unity government consists of 35 ministries split up between the group of President Salva Kiir, the SPLM-IO of Riek Machar, the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA), the SPLM-FDs, and other political parties.
Kiir’s side will take 20 ministries, while Machar’s group will take nine ministries. The SSOA will take three ministries, the SPLM-FDs will be given two ministries and other political parties will get one ministry.