The acting governor of South Sudan’s Northern Bahr al Ghazal has postponed the convening of the state legislative assembly for two weeks.
Acting governor Salva Chol Ayat said that the state assembly was scheduled to be opened on 18 March, but he pushed the session back.
“I was surprised by a letter from the State Speaker informing me about the opening of this session on Tuesday, but I advised him to delay it for two weeks,” he said.
According to the constitution, the opening of the assembly comes after consultations between the governor and the speaker.
Ayat attributed the delay to lack of time, saying the two week period will enable him to compile a comprehensive report to the assembly.
The top state official denied claims that the decision was related to the political unrest within the SPLM party in the state.
“I can assure you that there is not any problem, and the problem has nothing to do with the opening of the assembly,” said Ayat.
The security situation is calm, he said, adding that the state government is still waiting for the findings of a parliamentary committee investigation into the troop deployment that briefly rocked state capital Aweil earlier this year following the controverial impeachment of the caretaker governor.