By Peter Gai Manyuon
September 25, 2013 (SSNA) — Many people did not expect the appointment of the newly appointed Speaker of the national Legislative Assembly as legitimate, other people are viewing the choice as an interest of pleasing individuals. Hon Magok Rundial was given an opportunity without the constitutional procedures of democratization that should exercise by the Members of Parliamentarians. Within the assembly itself, the parliamentarians are not computable with the idea of bringing Magok to be the head of the national Legislature of the Republic of South Sudan, but, due to the issues surrounding the choice, the parliamentarians accepted Magok to lead then; it is an interesting.
There were many hopes and aspirations on who to be elected by the MPs in the National Assembly but that does not come as the reality because the National Speaker is supposed to be elect by 2/3 majority of the parliamentarians as per the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan 2011 is concerned.
The question is who manipulated the democratization of the members of Parliament? Is there respect for the rule of law and human rights in the Assembly? Many people across the entire South Sudan does not agree on the appointment of the newly Speaker because there was no election conducted, everything was manipulated by the Presidency due to the reasons known to them. The question is, will South Sudan be free from crisis at this very time when people are becoming concerned of their rights and aspirations?
Moreover the National Members of parliament were very much concerned after the President of the South Sudan General Salva Kiir made a decision appointing Comrade Wani Igga as his Deputy; they were having hopes that things might be done democratically in the new nation which did not happened afterward. Basically in this country since the President call Magok as his deputy, many people term it as way of making politics stagnant in the National Assembly and in the Republic of South Sudan.
All South Sudanese were aware that those of former Minister of Justice John Luk was interested in the position and he also mobilized most of the Mps to vote for him, but under way things did not materialized with him because President interest with Magok Rundial. People in person like me begin to wonder of what happen between John Luk and the President of the Republic because beginning from 2005 up to early this year; they were very serious friends that cannot move differently in politics.
During the election of 2010 John Luk lost the parliamentary seat of Akobo to John Juch who is currently in the parliament as the Member of Parliament representing people of Akobo County. Hence in 2011 Present appointed John Luk as Member of Parliament, he was among the sixty (60) people who were appointed by the President using Republican decree. Moreover John Luk works for the Interest of the President up to the time he gave President many powers that have paralyzed the politics of South Sudan up to date. I think Luk might be very disappointed at this particular period of time because it seems like President have forgotten what he did when he was the Minister of Justice in the new nation.
However, since the inception of the government of South Sudan from 2005 to date, nothing have change from the leadership of the former Speaker Igga, and I hope nothing will happen under the current leadership of the newly appointed right honorable Speaker Magok. The way am viewing current issues in this great nation, nothing will come as the miracle other than worsening the situation of the National Parliament because I don’t think whether Assembly can Persecute the culprits who are involved in the serious scandals of the Resources of this nation.
Magok is man of yes, as many people said in the Media, he will not identify what is good and wrongs in the system. His aim is to get recognition that, one day one time, he will say he was one a speaker of South Sudan and that is all. His interest is salaries and title; I know he will not bring in people to support the President in the coming election of 2015 because his popularity is less than 1% in the entire Nuer Community and in South Sudan context. By the time he was appointed people were wondering about the person by the name of Magok Rundial because it was the first time for the people to hear of his name in the National Assembly including me myself as the author of this article. Even by the time I was with citizen Newspaper and Television in 2012, when I was a first Reporter of the CTV, I never seen Magok in the parliament raising a motion in the interest of the entire South Sudanese people. He is not also among the popular Members of Parliament that are known nationally like Hon Bashier Badi who is representing the people of Marindi in the National Assembly.
People are wondering on the way President of the Republic of South Sudan impulse Magok Rundial as the newly speaker for the National Legislative Assembly. Since the time he was put there after the President threaten the Parliament when he said, if they don’t fulfill the interest then they might move on the street for survival that mean he declare the closure of the Assembly incase MPs does not complied with the President Order.
Conclusively; South Sudan as the new nation need serious monitoring and evaluation (M&E) for us to prosper to another level, otherwise nothing will move on in the current Parliament that am seeing. There is no democratization in place, no respect for the rule of law and governance in all government Institutions, what a mess is this great Nation leading to?
The Author is the Independent Journalist and Columnist for Juba Monitor, you can contact him through; [email protected]