The South Sudan Transitional National Legislative Assembly (R-TNLA) on Monday passed the Political Parties Act 2012 (Amendment) Bill 2022 after its third and fourth final reading in the house.
John Aganny Deng, the chairperson of the specialized committee for Information, telecommunication and postal Services in the august house said the bill is a very important Bill that it was substantially discussed by all the members.
“So, finally it has been already concluded, and now South Sudan, with the revitalized peace agreement has acknowledged that we have an Act which has already been amended and from today onwards we will be having this Political Parties Act 2022,” he said. “This Political Parties Act will definitely give a ground for political pluralism.”
He added that the majority of the lawmakers agreed that the official registration number will be 500 in each State and in the administrative areas to qualify a party to be eligible for registration as opposed to the 300 members some members were agitating for.
“Without having an Act which is guiding a nation, it will be in a dilemma and the nation will make a very small choice, maybe a very minimal choice but if you have a law which is guiding you, definitely your activities will be official and everybody will go according to the choices they have,” Aganny said.
The lawmaker said the sticking issue during the deliberations was minor because registration of party members is what qualifies a party to kick off its activities.
He said there are a lot of Bills awaiting deliberation.
According to Aganny, the people now have the privilege and are free to join any political party that represents their interests.
According to the law, any Bill that is passed by the legislators is supposed to be signed into law by the president within three months of its passing by parliament.