A member of the Jonglei State Transitional Legislative Assembly who was suspended a month ago following a misunderstanding with the house’s speaker has been reinstated.
Anter Bayak Kuol confirmed the lifting of his reinstatement to Radio Tamazuj on Sunday and said the lifting of his suspension by Speaker Amer Ateny on 6 October was long overdue.
“Earlier, I and another colleague were suspended by the state governor and we were banned from attending assembly sessions. So, I had to reach out to the speaker to ask if the governor’s move was legal but the speaker was not happy,” he explained. “She (speaker) thought I was threatening her and so even after the governor lifted our suspension, the speaker suspended me for one more month.”
“When I was investigated, I was found innocent and asked to write an apology to the speaker which I did, and my suspension was then lifted,” the legislator added.
Separately, Speaker Amer also confirmed that she lifted Bayak’s suspension last week.
“I suspended Anter (Bayak) because he has been threatening,” she said. “He was being investigated and I lifted the suspension last week after investigations were done.”