Debate on MPs voting President immature, diversionary - Muntu

POLITICS | ANT | GEN. MUNTU 

KAMPALA - There’s no reason as to why Ugandans should get sucked up into the debate of whether MPs should vote the president, Gen. Mugisha Muntu, the president Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) party, has said.

Muntu, who was addressing current issues on the party’s Facebook page on Friday, said the advocates for change of system haven’t given a convincing reason to warrant the debate.

“We seem to all be sucked up into debating as whether we should or shouldn’t adopt the new proposal. We should be asking the proposers over and over again what they intend to cure. So that they don’t throw us into a debate before they clearly specify what the problem is,” he said.

The proposal that seeks to amend the Constitution to remove voting of the president through universal adult suffrage was mooted by a new group, Transformer Cadres’ Association Uganda (TCAU). 

TCAU comprises members that lost during the National Resistance Movement’s (NRM) party primaries ahead of the 2021 polls.

The group believes the amendment would reduce the number of resources invested in elections and improve the quality of leadership among others.

However, Muntu has taken exception to reasons, accusing the ruling government of being diversionary and being up to something.

“The ruling government is crafty in the manner they operate; they go get some losers in their parliamentary elections to throw a red herring or something serious to gauge the thinking in the public,” he said.

Muntu said NRM cadres were being disingenuous. He recalled how he joined the liberation struggle in the 1980s at a time when it was Parliament voting for the president.

“When we went to fight against Uganda People’s Congress government, the system was parliamentary. That’s what they want us to go again," he said.

 He dismissed the suggestion as a feasible way of improving the electoral process and instead presented the need to build strong institutions as the better solution.

“The question isn’t parliamentary or presidential systems, it is do we have politicians who are able, when they are in power, to build strong systems and let them operate. If there’s an Electoral Commission, it conducts free and fair elections. It doesn’t matter which system. If there’s rot in the group that is in power, they will rig an election,” he said.

He narrated how the UPC government had exploited the Parliamentary system of voting a president.

“In 1980s, 17 UPC MPs in the North went through unopposed, how did that happen? They just put up an army roadblock at Karuma; the DP candidates in the West Nile and Acholi area were arrested in the morning, and released at 5:00pm by which time, the nominations were closed. The 17 UPC members went through unopposed and you know that gave them a significant number in Parliament even before the elections happened,” he said.

Muntu said the solution to solving the electoral process shortcomings lie in good and democratic leadership that won’t interfere with the institutions such as Electoral Commission and courts.

“You must have Ugandans who are ready to fight for what is right. It is a two-way thing, there are those who are in government who are bad, and there are those in positions that would ensure that systems work, but are either terrified or opportunistic. So, we have a dual problem, that’s what we need to focus on, not the system,” he said.

The former presidential candidate in last year’s elections said the proposed system would favour only a few instead of a population of 45 million, and disenfranchise over 17 million voters.

He urged the MPs – when the proposal is finally before them – to recognize that the problem is not the system of government.