S. Sudan MPs Sworn In, Speaker Calls for Cooperation

Newly independent South Sudan swore in its MPs on Saturday, two days ahead of parliament's opening session, with the speaker calling for cooperation regardless of background or political affiliation.

"You are the founders of the first ever parliament of the Republic of South Sudan," James Wani Igga told the National Legislative Assembly.

"I am calling for cooperation among ourselves in this esteemed house... regardless of any background," he said, describing the presence of the different political parties as an "asset".

According to a presidential decree issued last Monday, parliament consists of the 170 elected members from before independence, 96 former MPs elected to the National Assembly in Khartoum from southern constituencies, and another 66 newly appointed members.

Out of South Sudan's 332 elected and appointed members, 279 MPs were sworn in on Saturday, including Vice President Riek Machar.

President Salva Kiir was absent from the swearing in ceremony, in addition to those MPs unable to attend.

The new cabinet is due to be formed after parliament opens on Monday, to replace the existing caretaker cabinet.

Igga stressed the equality of the MPs in the newly reconstituted parliament.

"We are abolishing this, what others say, 'These are Khartoum, these are appointed, these are Juba. We are all South Sudanese in the liberation."

But opposition leader Onyoti Adigo, who heads the SPLM-DC (Democratic Change), an offshoot of the ruling SPLM party, was strongly critical of the size of the new assembly on Saturday, calling instead for a "lean government."

He said the money spent on the salaries of the 332 MPs and 50 members of the regional Council of States, which he said amounted to at least 7,000 Sudanese pounds ($2,000) per month each, plus expenses, could go towards much needed public services.

"That is why we in the opposition are propagating for lean government, in the sense that both legislative and executive are few in number, so that we save the money for delivery of services to the people," he told Agence France Presse.

South Sudan is one of the poorest countries on earth that was left in ruins after five decades of devastating conflict between southern rebels and successive governments in the north.

The fledgling nation faces a host of daunting challenges, starting with rampant corruption, which the president has vowed to confront.

South Sudan was granted extensive autonomy from the Sudanese government under a 2005 peace deal that ended a second civil war.

The accord paved the way for January's referendum on independence, which was backed by an overwhelming majority of southerners, and full international recognition on July 9.