What do South Sudanese Expect From That Rubber Stamp Parliament in Juba?

By Duop Nyidar,

Former MP, NLA, Juba.

March 27, 2015(Nyamilepedia) — A few people have written expressing their dismay and anger after members of South Sudan Parliament extended their term in Parliament and the tenure of dictator and killer of Warrap Salva Kiir for another three years.

The extension of Salva Kiir tenure means a lot of things will happen which the members of Parliament did not comprehend. First, on the side of security it means more deaths as the war will continue. There will be more murders by national security to silence any opposing voices to the extension of Kiir’s presidency.

There will be more rapes, more stealing of public money (corruption) by Kiir’s cronies. The economy of South Sudan will collapse completely as the UN proposed sanctions will take their toll leading to rocketing of commodity prices in the local markets. Consequently our ordinary citizens will not be able to buy food and other basic needs.

The only people who will continue to have their three meals as usual will be Kiir, his ministers and their girlfriends. The existing and decaying infrastructures, universities, schools, hospitals and other amenities will collapse. A widespread situation of lawlessness will set in as every will scramble to survive by all means. This will mean increase in the cases of armed robberies, theft, rape and murder.

But let us analyze what type of Parliament we have in South Sudan and what caliber of MPs who are just warming the chairs of the Parliament. In democratic countries in Africa and the world over, Parliament is the symbol of sovereignty and one the most independent and respected arm of the government. In South Sudan, Parliament is the lowest and most despised institution.

President Kiir has made it a parking garage for his relatives, friends and girlfriends. In countries like Kenya and South Africa, Parliament is an essential and important part of the political system in the state. Its roles include examining, debating and scrutinizing government programs, policies and performance. Parliament exercises oversight roles over all sectors of the government through its specialized committees. This includes security oversight, procurement in all departments including the army and other organized forces. Do we have such a Parliament in South Sudan? The answer is a big No and find out why in the following Paragraph.

The efficiency, effectiveness and the refutation of a Parliament depends on the qualifications, experiences, refutation and performances of the MPs. However, the current Parliament is only a rubber stamp to pass the so-called budget and Kiir’s draconian decrees. The MPs come from all walks of life and different age sets: There are those old politicians who are on their death row, there are those who passed the elections; there are those who failed in the same elections and were appointed by Kiir, there are those MPs who were transferred from foreign Parliaments (Sudan), there are those who did not contest elections at all but were appointed to Parliament by Salva Kiir to abort any mysterious takeover of Parliament or pass anything in Parliament, by a group he did not like.

Coupled with those problems is that the Parliament since its establishment until now is led by people who are naturally idiotic and have no capacity to “look outside the box” for reforming the Parliament. All the two Speakers, since the Parliament was established in 2005 are appointees of President Kiir. These naturally “intellectually dwarfed” Speakers have aggravated the inefficiency of the Parliament and only dance to the tune played by President Kiir. This is the type of Parliament we have in Juba. It is not independent and have become one of the departments of Kiir’s government. We need to reform it after removing Kiir and bring new leaders. This is exactly what the SPLM/A –I O is fighting for.