A Ugandan parliamentary committee has approved changes aimed at scrapping presidential age limit.
Legal
and Parliamentary Affairs Committee members endorsed the most sweeping
constitutional changes since 2005, with 18 votes— taking a significant
leap forward as 10th Parliament seeks to increase presidential term from
five to seven years.
Referendum
Although
Article 105 (1), which provides for a five-year presidential term, was
not among the proposed constitutional amendments, the Monitor understands that a polarised committee retreat on Friday approved a seven-year presidential term and recommended a referendum.
President Yoweri Museveni has since backed a seven-year term and the age limit removal.
But
as “a bargain chip” in the dramatic endorsement of the removal of age
limits, the ruling National Resistance Movement members, according to
committee sources, backed the Opposition demand for the restoration of
the term limits in the Ugandan constitution.
The
terms limit was removed by MPs in the 7th Parliament in 2005 to allow
President Museveni contest for a third term in office during the 2006
elections.
NRM MPs
Although
Opposition MPs have welcomed the proposed restoration of the term
limits in the constitution, they have accused NRM MPs of trying to
appease a bigger part of their voters who had warned them not to tinker
with the Constitution.
The debate on
the proposed restoration of term limits, however, became controversial
after committee members failed to agree on whether a president who has
already served two or more terms under the current legal regime, should
be allowed to “count afresh” and even contest under the new political
dispensation.
The matter was left to the House to decide.
“It’s
obvious the NRM MPs are trying to bury their heads in the sand like an
ostrich…they are hunting for an enticing excuse in exchange to appease
voters who rejected the amendment to Article 102 (b),” Masaka
Municipality MP Mathias Mpuuga said.
Expressing
fears that the proposed restoration of the term limits might not sail
through Parliament, Mr Mpuuga and other Opposition lawmakers told the Monitor
that the trade-off is mere window-dressing, and that “the same people
who removed the term limits are still around and their appetite for
power and patronage seems to grow.”
7 members
Mr
Mpuuga said: “The issue at hand is about cultivating a culture of
respect for laws of the land... the two most important Articles [102 (b)
and 105 (2)] that acted as safeguards of nascent democracy were never
tested but seen as roadblocks warranting removal, without addressing why
they existed in the first place. This is absurd.”
The
ruling party members backed by “friendly” independents used their
numerical strength in the committee to endorse the removal of age limit
from the 1995 constitution in spite of the dissenting views from
minority legislators led by Busiro East MP Medard Lubega Ssegona,
Bugweri MP Abdu Katuntu and Kumi MP Monicah Amoding (NRM).
At
least seven committee members— including Opposition chief whip, Ssemuju
Ibrahim Nganda and Kampala Central MP Muhammad Nsereko— were
conspicuously absent.
Some of the absentee MPs were attending the 8th Inter-Parliamentary Games in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Voting
Since
Thursday, members of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee have
been holed up at the Lake Victoria Serena, Kigo, to write their report
ahead of the anticipated Second Reading of the Raphael Magyezi’s
Constitutional (Amendments) Bill, 2017 on Tuesday.
However, sources have told the Monitor
that on account of the disagreements, especially on the proposed
amendment to Article 102 (b) of the Constitution, there will be two
reports — the main report and the minority report.
Although the main report has made its recommendations, they are not final.
The
Committee of the Whole House chaired by Speaker will debate the two
reports and vote on each of them— including the controversial proposed
amendments— before a final decision is made.
Although
there were reports in the corridors of Lake Victoria Serena Hotel that
those who voted in favour of the removal of the age limit from the 1995
Constitution pocketed Ush100 million ($28,000) each as part of a Ush300
million ($84,000) deal, the Monitor could not independently verify these claims.
In
backing the removal of age limit caps, the 18 MPs branded Article 102
(b) as “discriminatory” and insisted that the choice should be left to
the voters since under Article 1, power belongs to the people.
Consensus
The
members also argued that there are many leaders all over the world who
are above 75 and that many prosperous countries like the US don’t have
age restrictions.
On the other hand,
in the draft minority report, those against the removal of age limit
asked their colleagues to account for the views of Ugandans who rejected
the proposed amendments and insisted that there should be
qualifications for leadership positions since the law provides for
academic and citizenship qualifications.
They have also argued that discrimination is under Article 21 (3) and age is not one of them.
Without
delving into the details of the two reports, Mr Oboth Oboth, the
committee chairperson said: “We have concluded report writing; we have
two reports— majority and minority— because there is no unanimity in the
matter. It’s a controversial matter you cannot have consensus.”
Once the report(s) signing process is done, Mr Oboth Oboth told the Monitor that
the two reports will be officially presented to the Speaker Rebecca
Kadaga and then a decision will be made at that level to schedule the
Second Reading of the Constitutional (Amendments) Bill on the order
paper.
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