Sudan: South's Draft Constitution Finalized - Minister

5 April 2011

Juba — The technical committee that was tasked with reviewing South Sudan's interim constitution of 2005, ahead of the region's independence in July, has successfully completed the process, with the draft report expected in a week or so, its chairperson said.

Addressing the media in the regional capital, Juba on Tuesday, John Luk Jok said the next phase of the process, expected to commence after the July independence declaration, will be transitional in nature.

"We expect the committee's draft report either by end of this week or next week. The next phase of the process to take place after the country's independence will be all inclusive. We shall embark on nationwide consultations with the entire population," said Jok, also South Sudan's minister for legal and constitutional development.

South Sudan is due to become independent after the population overwhelming chose separation in the region's self-determination referendum held in January. The vote was a key part of the Sudan's 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended over two decades of a bloody civil war between north and south.

The technical committee, which comprised of members from the south's ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), representatives from other political parties, civil society groups and the religious fraternity was initiated to transform the current interim law, through amendment, into an independent state constitution, address gaps within the legal framework and provide a road map that will guide the new nation.

Among the key issues within the draft, Jok said, is a section that addresses the South Sudan's foreign policies and legal frameworks that will handle matters related to its dealing with both neighboring nation and the outside world.

"We shall embark on a broad-based constitutional review process after the July independence declaration. This process will involve the active participation of all stakeholders including other political parties," the minister said, adding that, "there is no cause for alarm. What we are doing is in the interest of all the people of South Sudan."

His remarks come almost a month after the review process suffered a serious setback, following a boycott from nine members of the 11 political parties on the technical committee. Those who withdrew accused the SPLM member violating the procedures that had been established for the review. The SPLM has 41 members on the committee.

However, the chairperson of the committee rubbished these claims as "baseless and lacking ground". He accused the members who boycotted the committee interfering in the constitutional review process.

"Rules of procedures were not changed at all during the process of reviewing the interim constitution. As members, we were all required to vote and come to consensus. What members of these political parties were alleging was not true," said Jok, who was accompanied by Barnaba Marial Benjamin, the information and broadcasting minister.

The draft constitution, Sudan Tribune has learnt, will later be made public for various inputs, taken to the legislative assembly for debate, before it is finally forwarded to the president for endorsement.

Source: allAfrica.
Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/201104060786.html.