United Nations White Paper

Topic: Recommendations on South Sudans Government

By: Taylor Foley, United Nations Special Task Force on South Sudan
South Sudan is a fairly new country, only gaining independence from Sudan in 2011.
However, South Sudan has had many struggles with their government and maintaining a balance
of power between the people and the government. Our role, as the United Nations Special Task
Force on South Sudan, is to make recommendations as to how South Sudans government should
function democratically.
In regards to the constitution, we believe that South Sudan would benefit most from a
written constitution compared to an unwritten one. A written constitution is better because there
among the ethnic group leaders in South Sudan, there is not much trust. Also, it is better to be
sure that all the rules and regulations are written down and able to be referred back to if needed.
Along with a written constitution, South Sudan would function best under a confederation rather
than a federalist system or a unitary system of government. We believe this is best because
having a confederation prevents the main government from abolishing smaller governments and
having too much power, as South Sudan has had trouble dealing with giving its leaders an
adequate amount of power. In addition, a presidential system of government would benefit South
Sudan more so than a parliamentary system. With a presidential system, the citizens of South
Sudan will be able to choose someone who they believe will best benefit their country. South
Sudans government should also be sure to establish a Bill of Rights in order to make sure the
rights of minorities and other individuals are guaranteed. Lastly concerning the entire
constitution, civilians should have control over the military. Our main goal is to prevent one
group in South Sudan having too much power, so we will prevent the government from
controlling most of the military.
For the executive branch of South Sudan, the chief executive should be selected by
popular vote. This is best because, similarly to why South Sudan benefits from a presidential
system, the citizens of South Sudan will be able to choose who they want to be in charge, and
this will prevent the legislature from choosing someone who will only benefit them or a small
portion of the country, rather than the entire country. As for the role of the executive, the
executive should be the one who makes and carries out the laws, and it should be a role shared
among multiple people because, as with everything else, we want to prevent one part of the
government from gaining too much power. So, while the executive branch will be both making
and carrying out the laws, it will be taken care of by multiple people.
The legislature should be bicameral because our goal is to get South Sudans government
to work in groups to prevent one large group from controlling the whole country. The members
of the legislature should be appointed because South Sudans people are still new to democracy
and are already going to be voting for the president and the executive, so it would be beneficial

to allow the legislature to be appointed by someone already in power. Along with members of
the legislature, minorities should be guaranteed a spot in the legislature.
For the Supreme Court, the members should be appointed by the executive branch with
legislative approval. This will benefit South Sudans new government by preventing one branch
from choosing members for the Supreme Court that will mostly benefit them. It will also require
both the legislative and executive branches to work together and come to a decision. The
Supreme Court should also have the power of Judicial Review. This will allow the Supreme
Court to be sure that the executive and legislative branches are running smoothly and are doing
the jobs they are supposed to be doing.
For the role of the citizens participation in the government, we believe that it would be
best to have compulsory voting, because if voting was optional, we fear that many people would
not vote due to fear and lack of trust of the government. However, we will first be sure that most
of the civilians are educated, so they are not just choosing a random person to vote for. Along
with compulsory voting, we will have elections held every few years to avoid one person being
in office for too long. The political party system for South Sudan should be a multiple party
system, because if there were only two main political parties, then the smaller groups would have
no voice in the government.
Our overall recommendations for South Sudan consist of having a written constitution
which should contain a Bill of Rights, or something similar to one. South Sudan would also
benefit most from a confederacy, along with a presidential system of government. Civilians
should also have authority of the military. Concerning the executive branch of South Sudan, the
chief executive should be selected by popular vote and the executive should consist of multiple
people who will make and carry out the laws. The legislature should be bicameral and the
members should be appointed by the executive branch. The members of the Supreme Court
should be appointed by the executive branch with approval from the legislature, and the Court
should have the power of Judicial Review. Lastly, voting in South Sudan should be compulsory,
with elections being held every few years, and South Sudan should have a multiple party system
of government.

Works Cited
South Sudan. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency, 2011. Web. 29 Sep 2016.
South Sudan country profile. BBC News. BBC, 2016. Web. 29 Sep 2016