JUBA, South Sudan
South Sudan on Monday swore in hundreds of lawmakers to a newly created national parliament, a long-overdue condition of a fragile peace deal that ended civil war in the young country.
In all, 588 MPs -- a
mix of delegates from the ruling party and former rebel factions who signed the
truce -- took the oath of office at a ceremony in Juba presided over by the
chief justice.
The creation of an
inclusive national assembly was a key condition of the 2018 ceasefire that
paused five years of bloodshed between government and rebel forces that left
nearly 400,000 people dead.
Like several other
urgent and crucial provisions of the peace accords, the convening of parliament
went long unfulfilled, eroding trust between the political rivals that unified
in a tenuous coalition after the war.
It comes nearly a year
behind schedule and remains incomplete, with 62 MPs absent from the swearing-in
ceremony, some because of squabbles with the government over the power-sharing
arrangement.
Daniel Awet, deputy of
the ruling SPLM party, hailed the occasion as a show of unity.
"It is only
through unity of purpose and love of one another that we progress our country
and secure the future for the young generation that have been saved after long
wars," he told the lawmakers, community representatives and church leaders
present for the occasion.
President Salva Kiir
did not attend the event.
South Sudan has
struggled with war, famine and chronic political and economic crisis since
celebrating its hard-fought independence from Sudan a decade ago.
The ceasefire was just
the latest inked between Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar, whose rivalry ignited
the conflict that left the world's newest country ethnically riven and
desperately poor.
Their truce still
largely holds but it is being sorely tested, as politicians bicker over power
and promises for peace go unmet.
Last week, a coalition
of civil society groups launched a public campaign to demand political change
after the 10 turbulent and bloody years of independence.
"Know that South
Sudanese are watching you," said Justine Badi Arama, the archbishop of the
Anglican Church in South Sudan, who offered prayers ahead of the swearing-in
ceremony.
The number of lawmakers
has grown from 450 to 650 in the new assembly -- more delegates than seats
allow for in the existing building, where a planned expansion is behind
schedule.
"For the time
being however, we appeal to the honourable members to be patient as we struggle
to rectify this situation," parliament's new speaker Jemma Nunu Kumba told
lawmakers.
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