South Sudan to inaugurate first post-reconciliation Transitional National Legislative Assembly

The 550 members of the South Sudanese Transitional National Legislative Assembly will be sworn in today.

Weakened by the six-year South Sudanese Civil War which ended in February 2020, Juba is now trying to extricate itself from a fragile political situation and a corruption ridden economy. This new Transitional Assembly is a result of the peace agreement which ended the civil war. Most of the measures advocated in this agreement have made little progress. Particularly, one of the agreement’s chief goals, forming a unified army, has entirely evaded Juba’s grasp.

The absence of the National Assembly has been the source of dysfunction. The parliament was reconstituted in May, but this was more than a year after the agreement’s signing. Thus, 2020-2021’s budget and the implementation of new laws have not yet been addressed. Additionally, a commission on constitutional reform was also launched to deliberate the decentralization of power and modalities of the 2023 general elections but has yet to produce results.

The upcoming elections will require an administrative infrastructure and a logistical capacity which Juba currently lacks. Today’s inauguration suggests a step towards unity, but the rivalry between the Salva Kiir and Riek Machaar which fueled the civil war remains strong.

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