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UID:86bdd0a7e69f68d86a7b3f8077230e85
CATEGORIES:Ad Hoc Events 
CREATED:20190128T081812
SUMMARY:Presentation by Mark Deng (Doctoral researcher, Australia)
LOCATION:Centre Classroom (Room 2-2.1, Law Building, UP Campus)
DESCRIPTION;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:Constitution Building in Conflict-Ridden South Sudan: a Prerequisite for Ac
 hieving Peace and Long-term Political Stability\n\nAbstract\n\n\nFollowing 
 the vote for independence in 2011, the Transitional Constitution of South S
 udan 2011 was enacted to govern the newly founded nation during the transit
 ional period. Drafted in haste and in a non-inclusive manner, however, the 
 Transitional Constitution failed to provide a basis for the anticipated dem
 ocratic system of government for the country- as it sought to concentrate p
 ower in the national executive. This constitutional failure has resulted, i
 n part, in the intractable political instability in South Sudan.\n\n\nThis 
 thesis is an attempt to address the constitutional failure in South Sudan. 
 It highlights the problems in the Transitional constitution and the effects
  they have had on the country. It then proposes a roadmap to a permanent co
 nstitution of South Sudan. The roadmap involves three steps: namely, the el
 ection of a constitutional assembly to lead the drafting process, a nationa
 l constitutional conference as a platform to debate a draft constitution, a
 nd a constitutional referendum as a means through which the people of South
  Sudan can give their blessing to the constitution.\n\n\nIndispensable to t
 his higher-law making exercise in South Sudan is the concept of federalism,
  which, in fact, is a popular demand. Federalism would help ensure an effec
 tive division of powers between the national government and the state gover
 nments. Under a federal system, for example, the Sudan People’s Liberation 
 Movement (SPLM) led government can never have powers that allow it to inter
 fere in the states politics and undermine the autonomy of the state governm
 ents. However, the success of a permanent constitution and the overall impr
 ovement in the governance system in South Sudan will be contingent on the d
 emilitarisation of the SPLM. That is, the SPLM will need to be transformed 
 into a democratic political institution in order to be in a position to uph
 old and enforce the constitution accordingly.\n\n\nThe thesis argues that t
 his reform package ought to be undertaken simultaneously with the ongoing s
 earch for peace in South Sudan. For it would be difficult for peace to take
  root in South Sudan if the current power structure under the Transitional 
 Constitution and the militarised nature of the SPLM remain unchanged. This 
 makes it abundantly clear that constitutional reform and the demilitarisati
 on of the SPLM, however unpopular they might be for the government, are pre
 requisites for achieving durable peace in South Sudan. Peace could take roo
 t in South Sudan only if it relies on accountable political institutions.\n
 \n\nThe study utilises both a descriptive method (analysing historical and 
 contemporary political issues in South Sudan) and an applied work, involvin
 g public law in action. Said another way, it draws on theoretical insights 
 from the fields of constitutional design and comparative constitutional tra
 nsition.\n
CONTACT:magnus.killander@up.ac.za
DTSTAMP:20260621T184520Z
DTSTART;TZID=Africa/Johannesburg:20190128T140000
SEQUENCE:0
TRANSP:OPAQUE
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