Opposition political parties and civil society activists in Juba have criticized the timing of introduction of the constitutional amendments for extending the tenure of the president and the national parliament.
At a public hearing in the national parliament in Juba today attended by members of the public, political parties, civil society, and religious groups, SPLM-DC leader Lam Akol spoke out against the timing of the amendments.
“We beg to disagree on the timing with the government of the proposed amendments to propose an amendment now six days before the conclusion of the peace talks can only be read as a demonstration of bad faith and lack of seriousness on the side of the government and prejudging the talks to have failed.”
He added, “This is a bad politics, we should have waited till the fifth of March before we could take steps regarding constitutional amendments.”
On the other hand, the Legal Affairs Ministry representative who presented the constitutional amendment bill, Lawrence Kamilo, says the amendments are necessary. “I don’t think whether any one of you here will allow this government to lapse and then we have no government.”
He said, “we as a government are trying to save the nation.”
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