A member of South Sudan’s National Legislative Assembly says parliament is violating the August peace agreement and is currently operating illegally.

Thomas Wani, the chairperson of the Equatoria Caucus at the assembly, said that a transitional national assembly should replace the current national assembly.

“All parties to the agreement are members in the house, they have the right to be voted in and to vote for their speaker,” Wani said.

Under the peace deal, a transitional parliament is to be created 90 days after both parties sign the agreement. The deal says the speaker of the assembly should be from Equatoria, and the transitional assembly will include all current politicians, in addition to 68 additional politicians from opposition parties.

In response, Oliver Mori, a spokesperson for parliament, said the national legislative assembly will not give a chance to any other group to take the speakership of the house.

"Other partners, the former detainees, and the other political parties do not qualify for the position of the speakership in the transitional legislative assembly,” Mori said.

The government’s chief whip at the assembly, Tulio Odongi, said the parliament is operating under the law.

"We are a legal assembly,’’ Tulio said. "We shall continue with our duty as normal until the issue of the agreement is brought before us then we shall change ourselves in to transitional legislative assembly."