South Sudan: Speaker of the National Assembly suspended the salaries and allowances of 10 SPLM MPs on Wednesday

The SPLM caucus in the National Assembly walked out of the parliament in October, accusing the NCP of willfully delaying the introduction of key CPA legislation.

Report by Sudan Radio Service, Friday, November 20, 2009:

(Khartoum) - The speaker of the National Assembly, Ahmed Ibrahim El-Tahir, suspended the salaries and allowances of 10 SPLM MPs on Wednesday.

The move is seen as a bid to put pressure on the SPLM parliamentary caucus to attend parliament sessions. The SPLM have boycotted the sessions in protest against what they see as the NCP's reluctance to pass key legislation.

The SPLM deputy speaker of the National Assembly, Atem Garang, condemned the speaker for his decision.

[Atem Garang]: “Ahmed Ibrahim El-Tahir is a man who ignores political principles in this country, what the SPLM MP’s did cannot be seen as absenteeism. It is a political act which is normal in a parliamentary democracy. So the act of this man is an attempt to personalize the reasons that made the SPLM members walk out of the parliament. He wants to transform the issue; it's as if he is saying that if you don’t come back, I will not give you your money. We are telling him that we will not come back for 50 years if it is for money. Our main presence in the parliament is for the sake of the important issues that concern the Sudanese people, especially the implementation of the CPA.”

The SPLM caucus in the National Assembly walked out of the parliament in October, accusing the NCP of willfully delaying the introduction of key CPA legislation.