Multipartyists Plead For Breathing Space

By John Kakande & Hamis KaheruTHE long-awaited debate on the Political Parties and Organisations Bill kicked off in Parliament yesterday with multiparty MPs pleading with their Movement colleagues to relax restrictions on party activities. Movement MPs, with the exception of Bernadette Bigirwa (Bushenyi), in unison argued in favour of retaining or even tightening up the noose around parties. They said the choice made by the majority of the people through the 2000 referendum must be adhered to. Bigirwa spoke in favour of allowing the parties to operate up to the district level.An unusually large number of people, including scores of Uganda Young Democrats (UYD), turned up yesterday at Parliament to listen to the debate. The press gallery was filled to capacity.Bigirwa, who introduced herself as a cadre of the Movement, wondered why the Movement feared to compete with political parties at lower levels.“What are we afraid of? For all these years, we have been mobilising. I personally was mobilising (as RDC) for nine years without hindrance. If we have become lazy to mobilise, we should say so,” she said. She said the referendum, which many MPs were referring to as ground for restricting political parties, was instead the reason why they should be freed.“The Movement got over 90% in the referendum, which shows that the opposition form the minority, so what are we fearing?” she asked.She said Uganda’s problems have been as a result of leaders’ failure to look at social justice and equity. Bigirwa warned, “Today’s minority can be tomorrow’s majority.” She said passing the bill in its present form would be denying parties a chance to have internal democracy. Abdu Katuntu (Bugweri) warned that if the restrictions were recycled in the Bill, multipartyists would seek redress in the Constitutional Court. “This is not politics, this is now law,” said Katuntu warning that “if you to transplant Article 269 into the Bill, we shall meet in Court.”The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Hajat Janat Mukwaya, earlier said the Parliament was free to use the Bill to re-institute the restrictions imposed on the parties by Article 269 of the Constitution. Mukwaya also warned that parties must not assume that they are free to operate “as usual.” She said they must also conform to the democratic principles enshrined in the Constitution.Gagawala Wambuzi (Bulamogi) said that parties have let the country down. He said parties should not be allowed to “disturb the peasants.”Alex Onzima (Maracha) said MPs particularly the women and youths, should not take orders from elsewhere, but debate the Bill freely. Onzima said the women and youth MPs should not allow themselves to be twisted.Sarah Nansubuga (Ntenjeru North) who, while responding to a heckler retorted “if I am a sycophant, let me be a sycophant”, said she had instructions from her constituents not to bring back the parties.Richard Ssebuliba Mutumba (Kawempe South) appealed to his colleagues to consider the Bill in a sober manner. He said all Uganda’s presidents have been dislodged from State House by the barrel of the gun not the ballot. “Let us think about posterity,” Mutumba argued, saying the syndrome of Ugandans fleeing into exile should be brought to an end.Otto Odonga (Aruu) warned that in next 25 years most MPs would be dead but he would still be around answering questions about the decision they were taking.Ends