MPs want Kiir’s speech “redesigned” to look just as ‘good’ as speaker’s

MPs want Kiir’s speech “redesigned” to look just as ‘good’ as speaker’s

The lawmakers at the Transitional National Legislature want President Salva Kiir’s speech, during the opening of the first parliamentary session, to be reshaped to look just as good as that of the speaker.

The House reconvened exactly one week after the president had opened the parliament on March 27, following a long recess. And while MPs were expected to spend the majority of their time setting up a committee to scrutinize the speech of the head of state, it was the design of his 17-page speech that left most MPs talking.

Instead of the legislature concentrating on the main agenda, the members of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly and the Council of State transgressed to the design and layout of the speech of the president and of the speaker, which was printed on glossy paper.

“We want the speech of the president to be like that of the speaker.”

“It is a shame that we discuss such a paper,” Deng Chol Deng, a member of parliament for the Upper State, said.

Chol reasoned that it was “dishonorable” to debate the president’s address in the chamber without the symbol of the nation, arguing that the record will be kept for a very long time and for many generations.

He suggested the paper be modified and the slogan added before it is discussed in parliament.

“This is the speech of the president of the republic, and it does not bear the sign of the republic nor the image of the president. Why?” he asked.

Gabriel Rori, who represents, Yirol East County, Lakes State, concurred with Chol and noted that the issue presented was extremely important.

“If you see the speech of the speaker, it is more beautiful with a lot of well-shot pictures.”

“Why not the president’s?”

“This cannot be discussed; it has to be taken back, put in proper order, and then brought to us,” he stated.

However, Nyayang Lok, a member of parliament who represents Jonglei State, disagreed with her colleagues and maintained that the parliament is not accountable for the president’s address.

“What we need is the statement of the president, signed by the president; it has to be discussed. We are not discussing words; we are not discussing pictures and how colorful it is,” she argued.

Gabriel and Nyanyan both sought guidance from the speaker of the council of states, who presided over the meeting yesterday.

However, Deng instructed the house to continue with the discussion and urged the assembly leadership to hold the minister in the President’s office to accountable for printing Kiir’s inaugural address without a paper head.

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