Leader of Opposition Hon. Joel Ssenyonyi strongly opposed a proposal to have backbench commissioners elected by the entire House in this week’s parliamentary session.
The proposal which surfaced during a parliamentary plenary session has been met with fierce resistance from opposition lawmakers who argue that it undermines the very essence of representation.
At the core of this proposal, the fear of allowing the entire Parliament to vote on these positions will marginalize opposition voices and give the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) an unfair advantage in a process meant to be democratic and inclusive.
The backbench commissioners play a crucial role in the Parliamentary Commission, the administrative and financial arm of Uganda’s legislature.
Traditionally, these positions have been filled by representatives from both the ruling party and the opposition with each side electing its own candidates.
However, the new proposal seeks to change this by allowing all MPs regardless of party affiliation to vote on the opposition’s representatives a move that Hon. Ssenyonyi and his colleagues view as a blatant attempt to forbade the opposition and weaken their influence in Parliament.
“This forbades the side which these people are seeking to represent,” Ssenyonyi stated, arguing that the opposition must be allowed to elect its own representatives without interference from the ruling NRM majority.
The proposal has raised suspicions that the ruling party may be using its numerical dominance to install opposition-leaning commissioners who are more sympathetic to NRM’s agenda thereby weakening opposition voices within Parliament.
This move is not entirely new in Uganda’s politics where accusations of political maneuvering to consolidate power are frequent.
The opposition sees this as another step in eroding democratic processes and silencing alternative voices under the guise of electoral reforms.
With tensions running high, the battle over backbench commissioner elections is far from over. Opposition MPs have vowed to resist any attempts to manipulate the process, warning that such changes will set a dangerous precedent for Uganda’s democracy.
