Sudan's First VP,GoSS President and SPLM Chairman Salva Kiir Mayardit.[©Gurtong]
By Juma John Stephen
JUBA, 27 December 2009 (Gurtong) - He spoke at a press conference in Juba last Wednesday after the National Assembly passed the National Intelligence and Security Service, Southern Sudan Referendum, Abyei Referendum and Popular Consultation for Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States bills.
“I am confident that the leadership of NCP, particularly my brother President Omar Hassan El Bashir and Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha will not allow such irresponsible conduct in the National Assembly to push us back to square one”, President Kiir who is also the SPLM Chairman said.
“We will be able to overcome this crisis and if not, we will extend the lifespan of the National Assembly or prorogue it until these bills are passed. The choice of our people is peace and full implementation of the CPA and we shall not let them down”, he said.
“The SPLM is committed to respect and abide by the agreed upon bills and will not accept any changes in these bills which are only to be passed by the National Assembly”, he added.
President Kiir said the SPLM had agreed with President Al Bashir to inject a new spirit into the partnership in the remaining period of the CPA, where the National Council of Ministers unanimously passed the three bills.
He affirmed that the National Council of Ministers agreed that the three bills would be passed by the National Assembly without any changes and that they also agreed to take some administrative measures in the National Assembly to correct some irregularities that tended to undermine the spirit of the CPA.
“What is happening in the National Assembly is a clear defiance of their joint political commitment to implement the most critical aspects of the CPA particularly the South Sudan Referendum, Abyei Referendum and Popular Consultation for Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States”, he said.
On Tuesday the National Assembly passed the Southern Sudan Referendum Bill without the presence of the Southerners in the Assembly, a move that President Kiir said caught the SPLM by surprise.
“It is inconceivable that the National Assembly can pass a bill in respect of South Sudanese Referendum Law in the absence of South Sudanese themselves and without honouring the political agreement of the two parties. This is risky and exposes our country to greater political danger for not honouring agreements”, he asserted.
“I learnt on Tuesday and to my utter disbelief, that some major changes have been introduced in these bills, a development which forced the SPLM members in the National Assembly, together with members of other political parties, including some members of the NCP in the National Assembly, to walk out of the discussion of these distorted bills”, he concluded.