South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has dissolved the parliament, making way for the appointment of MPs from opposing sides in the country’s five-year civil war that left about 3, 80,000 people dead and four million displaced, reported CGTN Africa.
The announcement was made on public television on Saturday evening. President Kiir, however, gave no date as to when the new parliament will start working.
The setting up of a new legislative body is in line with the 2018 peace accord which stated that almost a quarter of the MPs would come from the party of Riek Machar, President Kiir’s former foe, and South Sudan’s current first vice president. The majority of the 550 legislators will be from the ruling SPLM party. Notably, the MPs will not be elected but will instead be nominated by different political parties.
The implementation of the peace deal is aimed at forging lasting peace and stability in the country that was marred by conflict for more than eight years.
Activists and civil society groups welcomed Kiir’s decision, saying it was long overdue but also expressing distrust.
“It is a welcome development and we hope that the dissolution [will] also open the way to a lengthy process towards reconstituting the parliament,” said Jame David Kolok, chairman of the South Sudan Civil Society Forum. “The civil society is getting frustrated and no longer believes that even if the parliament is reconstituted it will be a very viable parliament.”
The United Nations has repeatedly appealed for bringing peace and stability to the country.
Last month in a visit to South Sudan, Nicholas Haysom, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, told leaders that the South Sudanese people’s expectations were high for the success of the peace process.
“South Sudan is entering a new phase and people’s expectations are high. There is real hope for progress in the implementation of the peace agreement and, ultimately, achieving more durable peace,” said Haysom.
He added that the UN will continue to work with South Sudanese as well as regional and international partners to provide stability and, ultimately, secure prosperity for the people of South Sudan.
