Regional meeting rejects term limits

Parliamentarians from African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries have rejected the motion for a resolution on constitutional limits on presidential terms.

During the plenary of the 32nd ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly at Nairobi, Kenya, on Wednesday, 18 out of 27 countries agreed to vote against the resolution.

The decision followed several deliberations of committees of political affairs of the ACP and the European Union at the assembly meeting between December 14 and 21.

According to a statement from the Ugandan parliament, the proposals for presidential term limits were being advocated by members from the EU parliament with support from some coutries from the ACP.

During committee meetings, ACP members wondered whether the European Union parliament should dictate on the way sovereign countries should govern themselves.

“Before the final vote on the motion was taken, the ACP group met to harmonize its position with several members calling for the dropping of the whole motion, citing interference from the EU parliament,” reads the statement.

At this meeting, the deputy speaker of the Ugandan parliament, Jacob Oulanyah, said that when the vote was taken at committee level, the ACP was not properly constituted and, therefore, lost to EU.

“We did not have numbers at the committee level; we now have the opportunity at joint assembly. The European side has brought back some amendments which we rejected at committee. Let us defeat the whole resolution,” Oulanyah said.

Tulia Ackson from Tanzania, who was the co-rapporteur for the committee on political affairs, said it would be unfortunate to vote down the whole resolution but added that the ACP agreed with the will of the people.

Delegates from Mali, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Cape Verde expressed reservation on the decision taken, noting that this was unprecedented in the ACP and would cause a rift among members.

However, Fitz Jackson (Jamaica), who chaired the ACP caucus, called for cooperation and reconciliation among the ACP countries during decision time.

“The last thing we want is refusing to support each other. If we don’t cooperate with colleagues today, we may not have support of the group next time,” he urged.

The co-president of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly, Netty Baldeh from Gambia, then put the matter to vote and those against the resolution took the day.

The motion for a resolution on constitutional limits on presidential terms was tabled in Brussels in December 2015. At the Nairobi meet, Uganda was represented by Cecilia Ogwal, Juliet Kinyamatama, Wamanga-Wamai, and William Nokorach.