S. Sudan justice minister questioned over Lakes state governor’s mandate
Article
Comments (27)
email Email
print Print
pdfSave
separation
increase
decrease
separation
separation
facebook
myspace
twitter
buzzyahoo
June 25, 2013 (RUMBEK) - South Sudan justice minister John Luk Jok
appeared before the country’s upper house - the Council of States - on
Tuesday to clarify on the legality of the Lakes state’s governor’s
tenure.
JPEG - 79 kb
South Sudan Justice Minister John Luk Jok (thenile/pascal ladu)
Lakes state’s military caretaker governor, Matur Chut Dhuol was
installed by president Salva Kiir in January replacing the elected
governor Chol Tong Mayay.
Under South Sudan’s constitution, the president has the power to
replace a governor on national security grounds, but a new governor,
it states, should be elected within 60 days.
However, although the governor’s term in officer expired on 21 March,
there has been no indication that an election will be held in Lakes
state before the 2015 general vote.
The Council of States members described the tough security measures
introduced by Dhuol as "unlawful". They further accused the governor
of allegedly violating the country’s transitional constitution by
reshuffling cabinet, yet his legal mandate expired.
The members directed the justice minister to urgently intervene so
that insecurity does not escalate in the region.
In a motion tabled by John Masua, Luk was summoned to give an
explanation as to why Dhuol has been allowed to continue governing,
despite the "breach" of the South Sudan Transitional Constitution.
Parliamentarians described the political situation in the Lakes state
as volatile and argued that urgent intervention was needed to avoid a
potential worsening of insecurity situation in the state, if public
demand to elect a new governor was not met.
Musua told the upper house of South Sudan parliament that by staying
as governor for over 60 days, Dhuol was in clear violation of Article
101(r) and (s) of the country’s transitional constitution.
The caretaker governor was also accused of violating Article 165 of
the constitution, which he used to reshuffle the state cabinet and
county commissioners in February.
The house also questioned Dhuol’s competence, after the latter
forcefully ordered members of Lakes Sate Legislative Assembly to go
for recess against their will.
But Luk, in a 16-paged document presented before the Council of States
members, insisted that President Salva Kiir had not violated any
article of the Constitution since he acted on powers vested upon him
by the law.
The justice minister told lawmakers that there had been no violation
of the Constitution, adding that the caretaker governor was being kept
in the position based on a “doctrine of necessity.”
He said the act is to avoid occurrence of a vacuum in the state at a
time of serious security problems that endangers the safety of the
citizens and protection of their properties.
He instead blamed South Sudan National Election Commission, saying it
was incapable of carrying out its mandate due to incomplete
establishment of its administrative structures, compounded by lack of
financial resources.
However, lawmakers told Luk not to blame the elections body, saying it
was the government’s responsibility to ensure that it was functional.
Some members accused the government’s stance on Lakes state as a
“political move”.
The parliament also held the executive responsible for the situation
in the state, saying the formerly elected governor was ”not given
adequate resources; politically and economically” to address the
situation, referring to the centralization of the police, which dented
his ability to address insecurity in the state.
The parliament passed a resolution on Tuesday calling for the
government to immediately inform the the public about the situation in
Lakes state, warning that without transparency, citizens will be
compelled to take the law into their hands and insecurity will further
increase.
The House also resolved that government prioritizes allocation of the
necessary funds wanted by the National Election Commission in a bid to
run its duties. It also demanded that the government prioritises, with
immediate effect, the conduct of the gubernatorial bi-elections in
Lakes state
It also demanded the re-examination of the decision of governor
Dhuol’s decision to close Lakes state parliament for six months.
In his exchanges with lawmakers, the justice minister admitted some of
Dhuol’s action have been "unlawful".
However, he did not make clear what type of steps the central
government would take against controversial caretaker government.
The US-based Human Rights Watch recently accused South Sudanese
soldiers (SPLA) of allegedly detaining unlawfully and mistreating,
since February, more than 130 civilians in its Lakes state.
The move, it said in a report, was in response to armed violence and
inter-communal fighting that occurred in the state.
(ST)
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"South Sudan Info - The Kob" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To view this discussion on the web visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/SouthSudanKob/CAJb14oqAXUatSgROdDAyu%3D_86sZYoGDGX6zDPv_WS86iduHrzg%40mail.gmail.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
