A bill for amending South Sudan´s constitution has been tabled in the National Parliament to extend the term of the president and other officials including parliamentarians themselves.
Speaking on Thursday, the Speaker of National Parliament Manasseh Magok Rundial said that he chaired an extra-ordinary sitting of parliament for the first reading of the proposed constitutional amendment. He said the bill will amend Article 199 of the constitution among others.
Per the terms of the constitution on how it can be amended, one month will be allowed from now for deliberations on the proposed bill following its introduction in parliament.
The Executive has packaged several constitutional amendments into a single bill, so that MPs will have to vote up or down on a single motion rather than amendment-by-amendment; if they vote to oppose extension of Kiir´s term then they will also be voting to end their own jobs.
Parliament was called back from recess in order for the bill to be introduced. “We are here on an extraordinary session which is called by the executive and we are here to amend some articles in our constitution… for extending the executive, extending the assembly. So we are here for specific purpose we are called for,” Rundial told MPs.
The Minister of Justice Paulino Wanawilla presented the bill for the extension of tenure and mandate of both the national legislature, president and the national constitution review commission.
“To amend the constitution within the period stipulated as to avoid lapse of mandate of both National Legislature and the Executive by July 9, 2015,” Wanawilla said.
Wanawilla said that articles to be amended include Article 66 which deals with the term of the national legislature, Article 100 which deals with the tenure of the president, and the article which deals with the mandate and tenure of the National Constitutional Review Commission.
According to Rundial, the committee of Legislature and Legal Affairs is assigned to study the draft bill and report back to the parliament after 30 days.
Minority Leader Onyoti Adigo Nyikwec, belonging to the SPLM-DC party, said that the bill is one-sided favoring the SPLM-led government and their affiliated political parties, which he referred to as parasites feeding on the ruling party.
Adigo said they will challenge the ruling party for breaching the constitution and not consulting other political parties.
He cited Article 3 (1) of the constitution which says, ¨This Constitution derives its authority from the will of the people,” arguing that the people have not been consulted on extension of the term of the government.
“If its authority is driven from the will of the people, what the government should have made is to call all political parties, civil societies, religious leaders… stakeholders of the Republic of South Sudan, so that they look into what is to be amended and then to agree upon it; so that it is brought to parliament for amendment,” Adigo said.
Photo: MPs at the parliament sitting on 19 February 2014