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South Sudan has begun debating a bill extending the mandate of the interim government headed by President Salva Kiir by three years while he is attempting to negotiate peace with the rebels.
Gabriel Roricjur, the leader of the opposition Parliament, told AFP that part of the bill had been pbaded on Monday.
He will now be considered by a Legislative Committee and will then return to Parliament for a second reading in 30 days
Roricjur said the extension was necessary to avoid a power vacuum as the government's mandate comes to an end in August. "We believe that it is a legal procedure and the government should have a new mandate until the signing of the agreement," Roricjur said.
The South Sudan conflict erupted in 2013, about two years after independence from Sudan. Kiir accused his then MP, Riek Machar, of plotting a coup d'etat. It has been ruled by an interim government since 2000.
Some interpreted this as a sign that Kiir and his government were not interested in making peace despite the signing of a ceasefire "permanent" in Khartoum that has already been violated.
A deputy told AFP that the extension showed that the "government is not ready to sign a peace agreement".
James Okuk, a professor of political science at the University of Juba, said that it was an attempt to pressure the rebels. "They use this to send a signal to the opposition:" If you do not speed up the compromise for the peace agreement, let's go ahead, "he said.
The conflict has left tens of thousands of people dead, displaced four million people and left the economy of the new country in tatters.
The United Nations gave the two South Sudanese parties up to # 39 at the end of June a viable political agreement or sanctions.
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