Legislators have passed the Constitution (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2017 dropping the 75 year upper age limit for presidential candidates and extending the term of Parliament to seven years.
After three days of debate and objections by a section of Opposition, Independent and a few NRM MPs, Parliament approved what came to be known as the ‘Age Limit Bill’ with the required two thirds majority on Wednesday night.
At the third reading, the last stage before a Bill becomes an Act, 315 MPs voted in favour, while 62 rejected the Bill, with 2 MPs abstaining.
The bill would allow Uganda’s current president, Yoweri Museveni, to run again for the presidency in 2023. The bill comes at a crucial time for the Museveni administration because Museveni would have been too old to run again by the next election. Under the new age limits, Museveni could effectively serve as president until 2037.
Two legislators were arrested as they tried to access parliament and serve the speaker with court summons. The court orders were filed in order to bring to light the suspension of six opposition parliament members that were not allowed to vote during the age limit debate in parliament. The legislators have petitioned the High Court in order to be let back into parliament to serve their summons.
Opponents have sworn to challenge the amendment, claiming that the change is in violation of the country’s constitution. The opponents say that the bill is against the will of Uganda’s people, claiming that 75 percent of the public has voted against the new presidential amendments.
Sources: Jurist.org ; parliament.go.ug
