South Sudanese president dissolves parliament as part of peace process | Political News
Activists have welcomed the move in line with the 2018 peace agreement, saying it was too late and expressed skepticism.
South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has dissolved parliament, opening the way for members of parliament from war-torn countries to be elected under the 2018 peace process.
Kiir’s idea was announced on television Saturday evening but no date has been set for when the new parliament will begin.
The establishment of a new legislature was part of an agreement signed in September 2018 between Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar, for several years the opposing sides in the five-year civil war that left 380,000 people dead and missing four million.
Activists and civil society groups have welcomed the dissolution of parliament, saying it is old-fashioned but still showing disbelief.
“It simply came to our notice then [will] it also paves the way for a longer reconstruction of parliament, “said Jame David Kolok, chairman of the South Sudan Civil Society Forum.
“The agencies are frustrated and do not believe that even if parliament can be re-established it will be a very useful parliament.”
According to the 2018 agreement, the new conference will feature 550 lawmakers, most of whom are 332 from the ruling Kiir ruling SPLM party. Parliament is not elected but nominated by different parties.
The demolition of parliament came on the night of a visit to the capital, Juba, by a US special envoy to South Sudan, Donald Booth.
“The biggest concern for the United States is the gradual establishment of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination in the Republic of South Sudan, the ongoing violence, and the economic and social crisis,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement.
Kiir and Machar formed a coalition government on February 22, 2020, almost a year later.
However, only a minority of the alliance has been honored, with experts warning of a return to war.
The oil-rich world is not growing well and is not well managed.
According to a global hunger strike half of South Sudan’s population facing “severe food shortages”, as well as more than 92,000 people living in a number of areas – including the Greater Pibor Administrative Area, north of Bahr al-Ghazal and Warrap – “have been experiencing famine since early March 2021”.
Despite the peace process, civil strife – often involving cattle rustling – continues, with more than 1,000 people killed violently between the militants in the last six months of 2020.
