National Legislative Assembly - COURTESY

A civil society activist is calling on the national parliament to speed up the ratification of pending bills before the conduct of general elections in December next year.

Edmond Yakani said since the budget has already been passed and signed into law by the President, the lawmakers should now focus on the election requirements.

This includes the enactment of the National Elections Act to pave the way for the reconstitution of a credible and impartial National Elections Commission and the anti-corruption commission.

Edmond Yakani, the Executive Director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization is calling on the parliament to expedite the ratification of the acts.

“I would like to urge the Leadership of the National Legislative Assembly and Honorable Members of NLA since they dealt with the issue of budget, the time has come for them to ratify the amendments in some of the key essential legislation that contributes to a successful political transition of our country from violence to peace,” Yakani said.

“It is national the election act which is before them we wish that they should act on this particular legislation next two weeks and then the anti-corruption act is also before them,” he said.

“We hope that they can act on that quickly and other legislation of the national parliament for ratification.”

Last week, the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission also called on the peace parties to speed up the implementation of election-related tasks.

Its interim chairperson, General Charles Tai Gituai, made the plea as the parties mark one year since the peace parties extended the transitional period timeline by 24 months.