Lawmakers in Uganda’s first multi-party Parliament in two decades took their oaths of office on Tuesday after being elected in February following the repeal of a ban on political pluralism.
Members of the 308-seat legislature from five parties pledged to “uphold, preserve and defend the Constitution” as well as give “faithful service to Parliament” in a swearing-in ceremony expected to wrap up Wednesday.
Parliament spokesperson Helen Kawesa said the one-chamber Parliament would meet for business for the first time on Thursday.
February’s polls were the first multi-party elections in Uganda since President Yoweri Museveni took power in 1986 and saw his ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) win a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
The NRM took 205 seats, with the main opposition Forum for Democratic Change garnering 37, the Uganda People’s Congress, nine, the Democratic Party, eight and two smaller parties and independents, 39.
The other 10 seats are reserved for the army.
Uganda was a multi-party democracy soon after the ousting of former dictator Idi Amin in 1979, but Museveni, who was last week sworn in for his third term, banned pluralism as divisive after seizing power in a coup.
Until Museveni backed a repeal of a ban in a referendum last year, political parties were allowed to exist in name only, with candidates for elected office vying for seats as individuals.
The July referendum was boycotted by the opposition, which claimed it was aimed at camouflaging Museveni’s alleged ambitions to stay in power for life, and was marked by low turnout. But more than 90 percent of voters supported it. — AFP