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MP crossing is bad

Dr Frank Nabwiso, a researcher and FDC party historical, says the political defections are bad, especially when they happen within the opposition.

“These defections are like a child abandoning a mother whose breasts they suckled,” Nabwiso told The Independent.

“We have had political defections since 1962 which have contributed to the political instability in this country,” he says.

Nabwiso describes how legislators from DP and Kabaka Yekka parties crossed to the then ruling Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) soon after elections in 1966.  He says this enabled the Prime Minister, Milton Obote, to abrogate the 1962 constitution. He says by 1966 DP had nearly collapsed.

A similar crossing happened after the December 1980 elections. Busoga had elected nine DP MPs out of 11. But within two years, eight of the DP legislators had already crossed to join UPC claiming they were being harassed; only Prof. Yoweri Kyesimira refused to defect.

“What followed after that was that parliament started enacting harsh laws because it had been dominated by one party,” he says.

Nabwiso sees a similar pattern emerging after the 2021 elections.

“New parties will not get stronger because Uganda has been under the military since 1966. There is one dominant group in the politics of this country. It is the people who hold the gun. You don’t see this political culture in Kenya and Tanzania where presidents have been voted out or they have served their political office terms,” he says.

Nabwiso says MPs who cross to other parties show they do not respect voters who elect them.

“We have no respect for voters,” he says, “Elected leaders should be answerable to the voters. If one wants to defect, they should go back to the voters and say look you elected me to parliament under this party and now I can no longer serve under this party so I want permission to cross to the other party.”

Changing parliament

Other political analysts who The Independent spoke to say the defections are likely to change the political party composition of parliament as NUP and ANT rise and UPC, DP, FDC fade out or are diminished. They say the major change could be a raised profile for so-called “Independents.”

Already, the 10th parliament has had more independents than all opposition MPs combined. The independent MPs are mainly those who are dissatisfied with the way their party primary elections are conducted or decide to not associate with any political party.

There are 66 independents in the 10th parliament against 36 FDC MPs, 15 DP, 6 UPC and a lone Justice Party (JEEMA) legislator.

Most independents lean towards the ruling NRM party.  So some commentators have often joked that the independents are the main opposition in parliament.

To show their clout, they point at how President Museveni was compelled to sign a MoU with independent MPs. Under the Memorandum of Understanding, the independents agreed to always support NRM party positions.  As a result, many independent MPs teamed up with the ruling NRM legislators to vote for the removal of the presidential age limit that would have barred the 75-year old Yoweri Museveni from running for presidency.

The independents demanded and got representation at Parliament’s highest decision making body, the Parliamentary Commission at the expense of the opposition. Their demands are likely to grow.

Many pundits say the next parliament is likely to witness the same tendency as independents dominate parliament more than the opposition if the wrangles within opposition parties continue.

Fate of IPOD

According to some analysts, the independents could insist on being represented on the donor-created Interparty Organization for Dialogue (IPOD) which draws its membership from political parties that are represented in parliament. But Nabwiso thinks allowing independents into IPOD will weaken it.

“Political parties were deliberately introduced to help us organise ourselves politically. Where is the secretariat and leadership of these independents? Who can trust them with power? People should take voters as their master and serve them until their term has ended,” he says.

Even if this demand is rejected, analysts say locking out the large block of independent legislators could bring into question the relevance of IPOD.

Also, although most independents in parliament subscribe to the ruling NRM party, they have been asking for special consideration in parliament; a position at similar level as the Leader of Opposition.