South Sudan’s National Constitutional Amendment Committee (NCAC) members held a validation workshop Thursday to review and amend the Political Parties Act 2012.
The NCAC chairperson, Gichira Kibara said political parties help in the promotion of internal democracy for a free and fair election.
“We have identified areas that need to be amended so that the Act facilitates democratic registration of political parties and ensures that political parties have the right environment for them to be the instruments or engines of democracy in this country,” he said.
On his part, however, the Transitional National Legislative Assembly speaker, Anthony Lino Makana, said he would ensure the amendments comply with the international best practices for the free and democratic registration of political parties in South Sudan.
“We are here to consider the amendments of the Political Parties Act 2012, the formation of security bills like the SPLA [South Sudan army] Act 2009, National Security Act 2014, Police Service Act, Prison Service Act 2011 and the Wildlife Act 2011,” said Makana.
He added, “This is a highly participatory process that involved the review of the specific laws, research and comparative analysis as well as review and submissions from various stakeholders”.
The assembly speaker further said the committee’s proposed amendments to the laws will be presented for review and feedback.
“The proposed amendments will be submitted to the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs to be tabled to the council of ministers and finally to parliament,” he added.
The NCAC was established under Chapter 1 Article 13 of the revitalized peace agreement.