S. Sudan rights group calls on President Kiir to hold elections within
60 days in Unity State
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South Sudan Human Rights Society For Advocacy
SSHURSA calls on President Kiir to respect the Constitution and ensure
elections held within 60 days in Unity State
11 July 2013
The South Sudan Human Rights Society for Advocacy (SSHURSA) has been
disturbed by the alarming rate in which the President of the Republic
of South Sudan General Salva Kiir Mayardit has been violating the
Transitional Constitution of South Sudan 2011(TCSS 2011) without any
reservation to people’s will.
PDF - 630 kb
SSHURSA calls on President Kiir to respect the Constitution and ensure
elections held within 60 days in Unity State
SSHURSA condemns in strongest terms possible the removal by Presdient
Kiir on July 7, 2013, of the Unity State elected Governor Taban Deng
Gai. Though the President is allowed by the provision of Article
101(r) of the TCSS 2011 which states that the president shall perform
the following functions:
“-----remove a state Governor and/or dissolve a state Legislative
Assembly in the event of a crisis in the state that threatens national
security and territorial integrity”
However in the case of Unity State, there is no proof of “event of a
crisis that threatens national security and the territorial
integrity”.
This is a clear violation of the supreme law of the land by the head
of the state and this is unacceptable in democratic governance.
President Kiir sacrificed a lot of his efforts for the liberation of
South Sudan. Naturally, e should have been the very first person to
remember what caused him to spend his time in thebush wars against
military dictators of Khartoum. Having that in mind, he should have
been ahead in respect of the rule of law which is centred on the
dictates of the Constitution which himself signed.
In January 2013, the President removed the elected Lakes State
Governor Engineer Chol Tong Mayay under the pretext of insecurity that
calls for necessity for change of leadership in Lakes State but the
current militant caretaker Governor Matur Chut Dhuol has not stopped
the insecurity and instead has become the worst human rights abuser,
undermining at will any provision of the law and good conscience. The
pesident failed through National Elections Commission to organize
by-elections for the Lakes State Governor as required by Article
101(s) of the Constitution that states the president shall;
“appoint a state care-taker Governor who shall prepare for elections
within sixty days in the state where the Governor has been removed or
the state Legislative Assembly so dissolved in accordance with the
provisions of this Constitution, the relevant state constitution and
the law”.
When the elected Governor of Lakes State was removed and the President
failed to ensure that elections were held within 60 days, SSHURSA made
a lot of calls and appeals to South Sudan’s Parliament and people of
good will to protect the Constitution of South Sudan by calling into
question the unconstitutionality of the president’s inaction, and also
to the extent of taking the matter to the Court of Law to avoid more
violations of the supreme law. Nobody hits the noble appeals SSHURSA
made.
Now that the president has removed an elected Governor once again, the
removal of the elected Lakes State Governor and the inaction of South
Sudan Parliament combined, have acted as a soft ticket for the
President to continue with more attack and violations of the
Constitution. By all standards and for the purposes of South Sudan
viability as a Constitutional stable state under the process of
nation-building, SSHURSA makes the following recommendations:
To the President of the Republic; His Excellency Salva Kiir Mayardit:
(i) Show cause or reasons to the public as to why you removed the
elected Governor of Unity State as there is no connection between your
action with Article 101(r) of TCSS 2011 that allows your office to do
so.
(ii) Ensure that the National Elections Commission and caretaker
Governors organize elections for the elections of the Governor within
60 days in Unity State as required by Article 101(s) of TCSS 2011.
This is the only way to avoid Constitutional crisis in South Sudan.
(iii) Ensure that the National Elections Commission is fullly funded
and not having a mere existence in papers but a functional institution
with its full structures.
To both houses of the South Sudan National Legislative Assembly:
(i) As people’s watchdogs and protectors of the Constitution, make
urgent call on the President of the Republic to tell the Parliament
why he removed an elected Governor without respecting the Provision of
Article 101(r) of TCSS 2011 that provides for reasons as to when the
President is allowed by the Constitution to remove an elected Governor
which now not application to the situation of Unity State as
proclaimed by the Executive in the case of Lakes State’s.
(ii) To the National Minister of Justice and Chief Justice (Judiciary)
of South Sudan:
Urge the President to ensure the elections for the Governor are held
in Unity within 60 days
(i) SSHURSA urgently calls upon your learned offices to rise up and
protect the letter and spirit of the Constitution. The supreme law is
being attacked at day light and it is within your Mandate to protect
the Constitution.
(ii) SSHURSA urges the Chief Justice to wake up and courageously
ensure through the office of the President of the Republic that the
Constitutional Court is fully constituted to hear cases of the
violations of the constitution.
To the people of South Sudan:
SSHURSA appeals to you to protect the Constitution by peacefully
resisting any violation of it. Gone are Khartoum days of open
violations of the supreme law of the land which must not be allowed in
South Sudan.
SSHURSA Background:
South Sudan Human Rights Society for Advocacy (SSHURSA) is an
incorporated non political and non profit making Human Rights
organization founded in June 2007 by South Sudanese Lawyers and Law
Students at Makerere Law Development Centre (LDC), Kampala-Uganda. In
2009, it became operational in South Sudan with its head office in
Juba and co-ordination offices in the states. It vission is to
advocate for a democratic and human rights abiding South Sudan and
with its mission is to monitor, document and publish human rights
status in South Sudan and also train general public on the importance
of human rights, fundamental freedoms of an individual, Rule of Law
and democracy, all geared towards creating a more responsible, justice
and good governance oriented South Sudan.
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