A South Sudanese political analyst said the formation of a new government on May 12 before security issues are resolved would be 'illegal'.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Friday, Dr. James Okuk said forming a transitional government without proper security arrangements and amended constitution is a violation of the revitalised peace deal.
He further said critical steps such as a unified army, internal boundaries and determination of number of states are yet to be addressed.
The South Sudanese intellectual stressed that insisting on the May 12 deadline to establish a new government will not help in implementing the peace agreement by the parties in good faith because some provisions of the pre-transitional period are yet to be implemented.
“These provisions are still incomplete, which makes it difficult for the formation of the transitional government on May 12,” said Okuk.
“If the government is formed now before they [army] are united, this will still be a threat to the implementation of the peace agreement itself,” he added.
Okuk noted that parliament did not pass any amended constitution to be used during the transitional government because the current one does not contain changes.
He explained that one of the important things to be included in the amended constitution is the number of states, but excluding this part is likely to create a vacuum in the government.
“If you formed a government with a constitutional vacuum it will be regarded as illegal and it would have no meaning,” stressed Okuk.
He said there are fears among South Sudanese that the current situation could lead to repeat of the July 2016 outbreak of violence.
Meanwhile, the analyst said South Sudan’s main armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO) cannot take a decision on the formation of a new government without seeking the consent of all parties to the peace deal.
“They should follow steps stipulated in the agreement and this should be done in consultation of all parties and signatories,” he said.
Okuk, however, said he expects the regional bloc (IGAD) to be discussing this matter with the parties in Ethiopia next week.
“This remains a dilemma for the parties to form the government or to extend the deadline,” he noted.
The new transitional government is expected to come into force in May.
But opposition officials say their leader Riek Machar is not ready to return to the capital Juba and wants to postpone the formation of a unity government until security arrangements are addressed.