Tempers flare as SPLM opposition discuss S. Sudan draft constitution
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April 28, 2011 (JUBA) – A meeting, convened on Thursday by the
southern leadership to address the outcries expressed by opposition
parties on the country’s draft constitution, ended without consensus
after its president, Salva Kiir reportedly dared discontented
opposition members to leave.
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Centre of constitutional outcry: President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir (AFP)
"You opposition parties are known for boycotting such meeting. The
other time, you walked out of the technical committee and it still
went ahead with its work. Again you are bringing the same issue.
Whoever is not comfortable is free to leave this meeting," an
emotionally-charged Kiir reportedly told the meeting.
The opposition, sources told Sudan Tribune, were mainly opposed to the
draft constitution’s demands that a presidential election in South
Sudan be held after four years from the time the country’s
independence is declared in July.
Previously, members of the opposition threatened to boycott the
meeting on Thursday, which was called by Kiir, less than a week after
the draft of the country’s constitution was handed over to him by the
technical committee that reviewed it.
Onyoti Nyikwech, leader of the opposition, said the boycott was
justified given that most of the parties were “deliberately” left out
of the review process after their walk out in protest over the south
ruling party’s alleged violation of rules of procedure.
Nyikwech, also a member of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement –
Democratic Change, a breakaway faction of the ruling Sudan People’s
Liberation Movement (SPLM) described the draft constitution as a “one
party document compiled to cater for the interests of SPLM members.”
The technical committee, which was comprised of members of the SPLM,
representatives from other political parties, civil society groups and
the religious fraternity was initiated to transform the current
interim law, into an independent state constitution, address gaps
within the legal framework and provide a road map that will guide the
new nation.
Reacting at the release of the draft constitution, John Luk Jok, the
committee chairperson remarked, “We shall embark on a broad-based
constitutional review process after the July independence declaration.
This process will involve the active participation of all stakeholders
including other political parties.”
His remarks come almost a month after the review process suffered a
serious setback, following a boycott from nine members of the 11
political parties on the technical committee. Those who withdrew
accused the SPLM member violating the procedures that had been
established for the review. The SPLM has 41 members on the committee.
However, the chairperson of the committee rubbished these claims as
“baseless and lacking ground”. He accused the members who boycotted
the committee of interfering in the constitutional review process.
“Rules of procedures were not changed at all during the process of
reviewing the interim constitution. As members, we were all required
to vote and come to consensus. What members of these political parties
were alleging was not true,” he added.
South Sudan is due to become independent after the population
overwhelming chose separation in the region’s self-determination
referendum held in January. The vote was a key part of the Sudan’s
2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended over two decades
of a bloody civil war between north and south.
(ST)
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