South Sudan’s Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) on Thursday postponed an extraordinary sitting as the country awaited the announcement of a new Speaker and Deputy Speaker for Administration and Finance.
The appointments are expected to be announced later on Thursday.
Tulio Odongi Ayahu, SPLM Chief Whip in the National Parliament, told Radio Tamazuj that the session, initially scheduled for Thursday morning, was adjourned as the ruling party finalized internal consultations on parliamentary leadership following a caucus decision to reconstitute the assembly’s administration, including the removal of Speaker Jemma Nunu Kumba.
The extraordinary sitting has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 7, at 10 a.m., when the assembly is expected to formally endorse and welcome the new Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
Odongi said the postponement was due to ongoing discussions within the SPLM leadership about the appointments. “There was no reason, but the leadership was still discussing a number of issues regarding the new appointments. We were therefore communicated to postpone the sitting. The welcoming should have been Friday, because the announcement is going to be made today,” he said.
He confirmed that the new Speaker is expected to be announced first, after which other parliamentary arrangements will follow.
The leadership changes stem from a recent SPLM caucus meeting in which members passed a vote of no confidence in the current parliamentary administration.
“The MPs during the caucus meeting withdrew their confidence in the administration of parliament based on administrative matters. This includes the speaker, deputy speaker, and chairpersons, all of whom will be reappointed by the newly selected Speaker,” Odongi said.
Two SPLM lawmakers, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Radio Tamazuj that Joseph Ngere Paciko has been picked by SPLM leadership as the new Speaker to replace Kumba.
Ngere, who represents Mundri West in Western Equatoria State, is expected to be officially appointed first, followed by a formal welcoming by the assembly next week.
South Sudan has a bicameral legislature, comprising the Transitional National Legislative Assembly as the lower house and the Council of States as the upper chamber.
Under the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement, the assembly includes members of opposition parties, with the SPLM holding a majority of 332 out of 550 seats. The agreement allocates the position of Speaker of the TNLA to the SPLM, emphasizing representation from the Equatoria region.