South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Mayak Majak Madit Tokjok
A political parties’ forum to discuss opening up of civic space to allow leveled field for political campaigns and expression of divergent views kicked off on Tuesday in Rumbek town in Lakes State.
Stephen Mathiang Deng Monydit, the Lakes State Minister for Cabinet Affairs said during the opening of the three-day workshop that six political parties are attending the forum which is aimed at discussing the opening up of civic space ahead of the general election slated for December this year.
Mathiang noted that the implementation of the 2018 revitalized peace agreement is a collective responsibility of every political party, adding that the upcoming elections provide opportunity for the populace to elect democratically leaders of their choice.
Dr. Thomson Fontaine, the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategy, said that RJMEC has been discussing with MPs in the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) on amendment of the National Security Act, which will lose it’s power to arrest without warrant to the police.
“This (NSS Act) is a critical legislation, and we have been in discussions with MPs in the national assembly to enact this legislation so that we can create better civic space in South Sudan to allow freedom of expression,” Fontaine said.
Samuel Lee, representative of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), said that since the signing of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), South Sudanese have been enjoying the right to express their views and opinions.
The CPA paved way for the referendum that saw majority of South Sudanese vote to secede from neighboring Sudan after decades of the war of liberation.
Lee said that the vote for independence demonstrates that freedom of expression is not alien to many South Sudanese.
Christopher Muchirir Murenga, the Head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan Field Office in Rumbek, said that they are supporting peace dialogues in all the 10 States and three administrative areas.
He noted that the political parties’ forum is being held to review the code of conduct for political parties and their members.
Murenga further noted that opening up political and civic space is a precondition to the credibility of the upcoming electoral process in the country.
