President Kiir and his deputies after the swearing in ceremony at the State House on 22 February 20202 | Credit | Ministry ICT & Postal Services

Parties to the revitalized peace agreement have again defied an ultimatum given by regional body IGAD for the reconstitution of the national legislature.

On July 14, IGAD heads of state appealed to President Salva Kiir to dissolve the current Transitional National Legislative Assembly before 26 July and reconstitute it within a week.

But the deadline elapse on Sunday without any move by the Presidency — consisting of the government and opposition leaders in the coalition.

“So the message to the leadership is they really have to prioritize the issue of the parliament,” said Wani Michael, activist and a member of the National Constitutional Amendment Committee.

This is not the first time the peace parties have disregarded regional calls to expedite the full formation of the unity government.

In April the peace parties defied a similar ultimatum given by IGAD.

Wani argues that the reconstitution of the national parliament is important for amendment of key laws as per the revitalized peace deal.

“We needed the TNLA for many reasons. There are a lot of bills that are waiting for the TNLA to pass and these bills are very important and very critical for the unification of the forces and for also creating a democratic and political environment,” he stated.

According to the revitalized peace agreement, the Transitional National Legislative Assembly shall be expanded from 400 to 550 members.

The incumbent government shall have 332 members, SPLM-IO with 128, members and South Sudan Opposition Alliance with 50 members.

The Other Political Parties or OPP shall have 30 representatives and the Former Detainees 10.