The speaker of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA), Jemma Nunu Kumba, has urged parliamentarians to play a role in bringing consensus among the parties on the issue of elections.
Addressing legislators and parliamentary staff on Monday in Juba, Kumba raised a concern on the planned December elections saying that as the country heads towards the polls, she has noticed that there is no consensus among the parties.
“We hope and believe we will go for elections. And for this, right now, reading from papers, there is no consensus from the parties to go for elections,” she stated. “This needs to be done because we do not want to have different positions on serious matters like elections.”
“As a parliament, we have a strong role to play in bringing peace to this country, engaging with the executive and talking to them about the importance of peace and elections” she added.
According to the speaker, without elections, a government is not legitimate.
“You need to legitimize the government which is now held by the agreement,” she said. “When the peace agreement ends without elections, what actions are there to legitimize the government?”
Kumba also the parliamentarians to embrace peace and unity.
She revealed that she traveled abroad for medical treatment during the festive season and also participated in a summit in Lagos, Nigeria, and Kampala, Uganda. She noted that African countries are all looking at South Sudan as the country heads to elections.
She further emphasized that the August House is going to be busy next month passing pending and new bills.
For his part, Nathaniel Oyet, the first deputy speaker of the TNLA, said that parliament has done a lot, including passing legislation and receiving information from legislators about the state of affairs in their constituencies.
Oyet called on the judiciary to also step up its activities.
“There is one aspect which seems to be a missing link, the other third arm of the government, the judiciary, we also want them to be visible,” he said. “If you see, honorable members, the legislative and executive arms of government are always on the front pages of the news. This shows the activities and the functions they do.”
