Parliament Reopening Postponed Due to Technical Hitch

By Awan Achiek

The Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA), which was set to reopen on Monday, June 9, has been postponed until further notice due to a technical hitch.

According to Oliver Mori Benjamin, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee for Information and Communication, the delay stems from unresolved technical issues affecting the parliamentary schedule.

Mori did not provide further details but stated that a new date would be announced soon.

“It is postponed until further notice. No, there are no issues being faced. These are technical matters that will be resolved shortly,” Mori told Dawn on Friday.

“We will announce the new date to all media institutions, the public, and the honourable members of Parliament.”

For his part, Ter Manyang Gatwech, Executive Director of the Centre for Peace and Advocacy (CPA), expressed concern over the adjournment of the reopening of the august house.

“You know, first of all, if you look at our parliament, our parliamentarians are not serious when it comes to work. They are making everything as if South Sudan is not a country,” Manyang said.

Manyang claimed that parliamentarians are not serious in performing their duties.

“If the parliament is not serious in terms of performing their duties, then that house is going to be a sleeping house, and what kind of parliament do we have in the country?” he questioned.

He stressed the need for parliament to be operational to carry out its oversight roles.

“You know, it is a serious concern. The parliament always needs to do its work, you know, as an independent body. They are the ones supposed to supervise, and if anything is not moving very well.”

In May, President Salva Kiir Mayardit directed the reopening of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly in the first week of June after five months of recess.

Speaker of the TNLA, Dr. Jemma Nunu Kumba, recently noted that if the assembly reconvenes, its first order of business would be the debate and approval of the 2025/2026 national budget, which she described as critical to addressing the country’s economic and development challenges.

Under the East African Community (EAC) Treaty, partner states’ finance ministers must present budgets simultaneously under a common theme.

The EAC fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30 of the following year.