South Sudan Constitution Should Define Term Limits: Activist

This article was last updated on May 25, 2022

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Lorna Merekaje, Secretary General of the Sudan Domestic Election Monitoring and Observation Program (SuDEMOP), a civil society organization said positions starting from the Presidency, Commissions, Judiciary, and the Premier should be clearly stated.

“These elements play a lot in democratization and having embraced about democracy. We can not leave this term limits out,” Lorna said. “If we are to go parliamentary how do we want it to be?” she questioned during a lecture on constitutional hearing held in the University of Juba.

“Is because if you look at these offices, when these leaders stay long there will be a lot of complain by the population. If we don’t have term limits to me I feel that is a recipe for corruption and in that corruption there is going to be an element of impunity because if I’m here you are not going to sent me out. I can do whatever things I want to do you are not going to question because I have the powers,” she reiterated.

She said; “realizing power sharing can only be done when there is an opportunity given to other people to come in with new ideology and to me I see that one as a development.”

The current South Sudan Transitional Constitution has skeptically spoken about term limits. Article 100 in the constitution says that; ‘the tenure of the office of the President of the Republic of South Sudan shall be four years, commencing from July 9, 2011.’

Lorna exclusively reiterated the call for respect of freedom of speech and forum should be given to the civil society so that it freely criticize and challenges the people in power. 
She also called for the full inclusion of the public in the process of the constitution.

The United Nations had last week echoed that, involvement of the public in the constitution making is crucial so that the law is owned by the South Sudanese and would also act as a fair stage of founding the permanent constitution.