SPLA to Be Called South Sudan Armed Forces After Independence

28 April 2011

Juba — The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), the military wing of South Sudan’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) which fought the North-South war for 21 years, shall be transformed into a national army for the Republic of South Sudan under the new name: the South Sudan Armed Forces (SSAF), according to the draft constitution that shall come into effect on 9 July.

Other political parties in South Sudan have also been expressing their disapproval of continuing with the current name, SPLA, saying it is affiliated to the SPLM party and will therefore be an irrelevant name once the South becomes formally independent on 9 July.

A technical committee for the review of the current interim constitution of Southern Sudan, chaired by John Luk Jok, the minister of legal affairs and constitutional development, has finalised its work and submitted the draft constitution to South Sudan president, Salva Kiir, last week. The final draft of the document has stipulated that the SPLA shall be transformed into South Sudan Armed Forces (SSAF).

The work of the constitution amendment, which was supposed to be all inclusive, saw withdrawals of several other political parties from the committee membership in protest of what they described as lack of consensus spirit contrary to the initial consensus as the basis for the agreement between the SPLM and the parties. They accused the SPLM of a simple majority vote which was not the agreed procedure. The SPLM members in the committee deny the charges, saying they were respecting consensus as the basis for reaching agreement on issues during the process.

The main issues of disagreement included the power sharing arrangements after 9 July as well as the period for the transition to the next elections. SPLM members wanted the current government to continue for the next four years from 9 July, a position the opposition parties rejected, saying the next period should not be a continuation of the current interim arrangement. They also demand formation of a broad-based government in which the other political parties should be represented by 50%.

They demanded a period of less than two years of transition for the president, the appointment of new reinstated members of parliament and cabinet immediately after the declaration of independence.

Leaders of the political parties gathered on Thursday in Juba to discuss the constitution. The political parties’ leadership forum (PPLF) is chaired by the president, Salva Kiir, with the vice president, Riek Machar, as its secretary. The forum has established a General Secretariat in Juba, with membership of all the political parties, under the chairmanship of the Vice President, Machar.

The chairman of the constitutional review committee, John Luk, read out the draft constitution to the political party leaders during the opening of the conference on Thursday. The leaders are scheduled to present their draft positions, highlighting any observations in the draft document on Friday.

After its endorsement by the political parties, the draft document will be presented to the Council of Ministers for approval after which it will be presented to the parliament for final endorsement. It shall be signed and operationalised on 9 July, 2011.

AllAfrica – All the Time