The ruling National Resistance Movement party [NRM] continues to be engulfed in a tight corner over the decision on who to endorse for the Parliament speakership.
In a race that has attracted as many as five candidates, incumbent Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga and deputy Jacob Oulanyah are largely seen as favorites to scoop the most coveted position in the legislative arm of government.
Besides the two, Kiira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, Democratic Party’s Richard Ssebamala and Independent but NRM leaning Rakai District Woman MP Juliet Kinyamatama are others out to man the next parliament.
Though it’s highly considered a race too close to call, a sizeable number of MPs from both the ruling party and the opposition have loudly confessed their liking for the Kamuli Woman MP against the other four candidates, the reason for which remaining a subject of debate.
Bugiri Municipality MP Asuman Basalirwa, Jinja Division West MP Dr Timothy Batuwa Lusala, Commissioner Francis Mwijukye, Kawempe South MP Kazibwe Bashir, Mityana’s Joyce Bagala are some of the notable opposition MPs that have courageously thrown their weight behind Kadaga ahead of the May 24 vote.
As expected, Kadaga’s enviable popularity among MPs from across the political divide has not been an advantage alone. Hostile forces have variously used it to castigate her as an opposition leaning Speaker who jeopardizes her party’s interests in the August House, an accusation that her political lovers have vehemently trashed as baseless.
Kadaga’s fearless decision in the matter between NRM and the four rebel MPs in 2013 is the main reason members have vowed to be with her through both thin and thick.
The then NRM Secretary General had written to the Speaker seeking the expulsion of MPs Wilfred Niwagaba, Theodore Ssekikubo, Banabas Tinkasimire and Mohammad Nsereko for they had lost their membership in the party under which they had sought the mandate of the voters.
In the matter that kept the public at tenterhooks, with the MPs at the blink of losing their seats, Kadaga, acting as the indomitable and impartial Speaker she had always demonstrated she is going ruled in favor of the four remaining in parliament for there was no law that explicitly provided for their ejection under the prevailing circumstances.
The landmark ruling was hailed by MPs and also criticized in equal measures, with some who had wished the MPs punished for their stubbornness accusing the speakers of siding with dissidents while her backers credited her for upholding the independence of the legislature.
Years later, MPs seem not to have forgotten. Even at the risk of angering their parties by going against official party candidates, some MPs from both FDC and DP have still sworn to support Kadaga. As for National Unity Platform [NUP] fronting a candidate for the speakership is unlikely for they still feel well represented with an impartial Speaker like Kadaga.
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