South Sudan sworn in on new parliament promised in peace deal

South Sudan sworn in hundreds of lawmakers on Monday in a newly established national parliament, a long-awaited condition of a shaky peace deal that ended civil war in the young country.

A total of 588 lawmakers – a mix of delegates from the ruling party and former rebel factions who signed the truce – were sworn in at a ceremony in Juba chaired by the chief justice.

The creation of an inclusive national assembly was a key condition of the 2018 ceasefire that interrupted five years of bloodshed between the government and rebel forces that left nearly 400,000 dead.

Like several other urgent and crucial provisions of the peace accords, the convening of parliament went unanswered for a long time, eroding trust between political rivals who united in a tenuous coalition after the war.

It arrives nearly a year late and remains incomplete, with 62 MPs absent from the swearing-in ceremony, some due to feuds with the government over the power-sharing deal.

Daniel Awet, MP for the ruling SPLM party, hailed the occasion as a show of unity.

“It is only through unity of purpose and love for each other that we move our country forward and secure the future of the young generation who have been saved after long wars,” he said. declared to lawmakers, community representatives and church leaders present for the occasion.

President Salva Kiir did not attend the event.

‘We look’

South Sudan has grappled with war, famine and a chronic political and economic crisis since celebrating its hard-fought independence from Sudan ten years ago.

The ceasefire was just the latest between Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar, whose rivalry sparked the conflict that left the world’s newest country ethnically torn and desperately poor.

Much of their truce still stands, but it is strained as politicians vie for power and promises of peace are broken.

Map of South Sudan. By (AFP / File)

Last week, a coalition of civil society groups launched a public campaign to demand political change after the turbulent and bloody 10 years of independence.

“Know that South Sudanese are watching you,” said Justine Badi Arama, archbishop of the Anglican Church of South Sudan, who prayed before the swearing-in ceremony.

The number of lawmakers has grown from 450 to 650 in the new assembly – more delegates than seats allow in the existing building, where a planned expansion is overdue.

“For now, however, we call on honorable Members to be patient as we fight to rectify this situation,” incoming Parliament Speaker Jemma Nunu Kumba told lawmakers.