Opposition leaders appear before parliament over electoral reforms
Opposition leaders appearing before the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee on Wednesday. Photo by Faiswal Kasirye
What you need to know:
Leaders of opposition parties on Wednesday appeared before the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee where they submitted their proposals on the Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2015
Leaders of opposition parties on Wednesday appeared before the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee where they submitted their proposals on the Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2015.
The committee is currently scrutinising the Bill and is receiving views from various stakeholders. In their proposals, the opposition denounced the proposed constitutional changes, saying they are aimed at hoodwinking Ugandans and keeping President Mr Museveni in power.
The opposition members who appeared before the committee include, FDC president Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu, Kampala lord mayor Erias Lukwago, former FDC leader Dr Kizza Besigye, CP president John Ken Lukyamuzi, DP Secretary General and Acting president Mathias Nsubuga and JEEMA president Asuman Basalirwa, among others.
“We are here to present our views as we are part and parcel of of this process( of electoral reforms). You may recall that this same process was initiated before the 2011 elections as IPOD and our issues still were not recognized. We are here again for the same purpose and this time round, we hope that the government will succumb and respond to our concerns,” said Gen Muntu.
This comes just a day after Dr Besigye and Mr Lukwago’s home were surrounded by police and blocked from going to parliament to submit their proposals on the Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2015.
Subsequently, when the opposition members led by Gen Muntu appeared before the committee on Tuesday, they asked for an adjournment, saying they would not make their submissions on grounds that two of their key members ( Dr Besigye and Mr Lukwago) had been blocked by police.
Police blocked the two opposition members on Tuesday on claims that they were going to disrupt business in the city.
“We have reliable information that you are going to cause mayhem in the city. We advise that you go back to your house,” Mr Fred Ahimbisibwe, the Division field force operations commander, Kasangati told Dr Besigye on Tuesday.
The campaigns for electoral reforms were launched on April 30 by a cross- section of Opposition political leaders that were dubbed ‘Citizen Reforms Now’ (CIREN), which called upon the government to disband the current Electoral Commission and put in place one that would be picked by the Judicial Service Commission.
