Politics4 years ago
Just After Mourning For Oulanyah, There Is A Proposal To Have The President Elected By Parliament – NRM’s Odupa
Felix Odupa, a former Kioga County MP candidate, has stated that after mourning the death of Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah, his next step will be to spearhead the proposal to have the country’s president elected by parliament. Odupa stated on the NBS Morning Breeze show that he will accomplish this by collecting signatures to ensure that Uganda transitions from the current presidential system to a parliamentary democracy electoral system. He also revealed that the proposal has already received approval from the Electoral Commission. “After we pay our respects to our brother Rt. Hon. Jacob Oulanyah, we will begin collecting signatures to ensure that the president is elected by parliament.” “We’ve already received approval from the Electoral Commission,” Odupa said. According to Odupa, the country requires a solution to a number of issues with the current constitution, and one of those solutions is the proposal to change the electoral system. Early in January, a group of NRM party candidates who lost in the previous parliamentary elections backed the electoral system amendment proposal, led by Odupa, through their group Transformer Cadres Association Uganda. “We propose that parliament create a Senate or Upper House.” Political parties with representation in parliament will nominate members of the Senate of the Upper House. The Senate will be represented based on the strength of the parties in the lower house. This is intended to improve the quality of debate in the area of legislation.” In January, Odupa told journalists. If amended, this opens the way for a hybrid parliamentary system in which parliament and local government councils elect the head of government, who also serves as the head of state. When asked about his position on the proposal in January, President Museveni said that voting should be done by all Ugandans, not just Members of Parliament. “It limits such a President’s legitimacy.” “I don’t support and will not support that proposal because it should be for the entire population,” Museveni said in an interview with the NewVision.
