Deputy AG: We have no plans of instituting a parliamentary system for now
The Deputy Attorney General, Jackson Kafuuzi has refuted reports that the government is set to kick off countrywide consultations on whether the Constitution should be amended to have Parliament elect the president.
This followed rumours in corridors of power that the regime has been quietly mooting the idea of the Parliamentary system, something Kafuuzi said is not true.
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"I have come across social media sites alleging an impending amendment to the constitution through a constitutional review commission. They all claim to be quoting me. It's not true and whoever is circulating it must be attempting to fulfil his or her own intentions," Kafuuzi tweeted.
Frank Tumwebaze, the Minister of Agriculture said whether the information is true or false, there is no harm in reviewing the constitution through a participatory consultative process.
"I thought many have been calling for different constitutional reforms? So how shall we achieve them without a formal review process? Tumwebaze queried.
The leader of the National Unity Platform(NUP), Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine said the people of Uganda must not underestimate the new scheme because this is how all the past schemes started, including removing term limits and age limits from the Constitution.
"Museveni having been roundly defeated in the last election, now wants to take away the right of the people of Uganda to elect their president. Of course he plans to do this in order to impose his son on us, well knowing that he can't even get 5% of a popular vote," he said.
Kyagulanyi said he is very grateful to Uganda for the pressure these past three years, Ugandans have exposed the president and made him do the most shameless, unthinkable things.
“But we must now stop talking and act. Each one of us has an equal stake in this country. When we can, we shall, but don't wait for us to tell you what to do, ”he said.
Countries around the world practice democracy through different types of institutions; however, most democracies in the world today use the parliamentary system as opposed to a presidential system like that used in Uganda.
A few examples among the many parliamentary democracies are Canada, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Latvia, the Netherlands, and New Zealand among others.
Parliamentary democracy ended in 1980 with Museveni challenging the election outcome with a guerilla war. He claimed the polls were rigged by Obote.
In Uganda's case, the President is elected using the two-round system, with candidates needing to receive at least 50% of the vote to be elected in the first round.
