After five years of NRM-majority in the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala), an amendment to the rules of procedure for the election of Eala MPs could rearrange the composition of the Ugandan seats in the assembly.
The amendment eliminates the present provisions of party consensus in the consideration for Eala-member elections and gives power to the speaker.
“The speaker shall ensure that the members elected under Rule 12 in as much as it is feasible, represent the various political parties represented in the House, shades of opinion, gender and other special-interest groups in Uganda,” the amendment reads.
In the midst of the nomination run for this year’s Eala election, the MPs were split on Thursday over the question, how the special-interest groups should be represented in the assembly. These include the youth, women, workers and persons with disabilities.
Uganda has nine seats in the Eala. The present rule allocates six seats to the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), the remaining three divided between the other parties, namely Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Democratic Party and Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) and independents. Because it boycotted the 2012 elections, the FDC has not been represented in the current term.
Following the amendment, independent MP Abdulatif Sebaggala recommended an allocation of one of four seats for each of the special-interest groups on Thursday. The remaining five slots, he suggested, should be divided evenly among NRM, FDC, UPC Democratic Party and the independents.
MP Richard Otieno Okoth (NRM) rejected this suggestion, considering the composition of Parliament with an NRM-majority.
“The political parties represent various shades of opinion. It would be unfair to ignore the shades of opinion represented in the House,” he said, adding that disability would not represent a shade of opinion and, therefore, should not be given a slot in the Eala. His party colleague, Dr Chris Baryomunsi, added furthermore, that the parties would ensure a just representation and, therefore, no seat has to be reserved for the interest groups: “When the parties are nominating their candidates they make sure that all interest groups are taken care of.”
But a forceful Speaker Rebecca Kadaga admonished the MPs that “when members are elected to Eala, they don’t represent a political party, they represent Uganda as a country.”
With the new amendment, future allocation of seats in the Eala does not necessarily have to follow the composition of Parliament. The amendment, as discussed on Thursday, follows a ruling of the East African Court of Justice from 2012, where Anita Among, then a FDC-candidate for Eala, fought the present rule of party consensus. The court found that the rule was “alien to both the spirit and the requirements of Article 50(1) of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community.
The mentioned passus says: “The National Assembly of each Partner State shall elect, not from among its members, nine members of the Assembly, who shall represent as much as it is feasible, the various political parties represented in the National Assembly, shades of opinion, gender and other special-interest groups in that Partner State, in accordance with such procedure as the National Assembly of each Partner State may determine.”
Now, with the amendment, Parliament gives the power to the speaker to ensure that the upcoming Eala elections in April, as much as feasible, special -interest groups will be represented.
chris.basl@gmx.de
