Uganda’s Opposition Challenges the Status Quo, Advocates for Proportional Representation.

The Leader of Opposition (LOP) in Uganda's Parliament, Mathias Mpuuga, has announced the opposition's plan to introduce a constitutional amendment bill aimed at changing the country's electoral system.

 According to Mpuuga, the opposition seeks to replace the current system with a proportional representation system, which would ensure that the voting patterns of the electorate are reflected proportionately in Parliament and lower level legislative councils. This move is seen as a significant shift in Uganda's electoral landscape, which has been marred by accusations of rigging and lack of transparency in the electoral process.

Mpuuga made the remarks while addressing leaders of South Africa’s Party of Action who paid a courtesy call on him at his Parliamentary office.

He said that the current ‘Majoritarian’ system is unfair to political parties and its the reason why the National Unity Platform (NUP) has one Member of Parliament from Busoga sub-region much as the area overwhelmingly voted for the NUP presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu.

“In the Busoga sub-region, our candidate defeated Gen Museveni by over 80 per cent but guess what, we have a single MP [from there]. If that were proportional representation, we probably could be having 50 MPs from Busoga,” Mpuuga said.

“It is part of the conversation we want to have as the Opposition with the nation to change that system. The system of first-past-the-post promotes laziness and entrenches unpopular leaders. If we had proportional representation, the People’s Progressive Party [PPP] would have more than one Member of Parliament,” he added.

Under the proportional representation system, the seats in Parliament and lower-level councils are allocated in proportion to the vote share each party garners at a general election.
“[Such] a system promotes participation; all you need to do is to identify motivated, charismatic candidates to go and martial support for your party in the countryside, and before you know it, you are home and dry,” Mpuuga said.

At the close of last year, Mpuuga announced that top on the Opposition’s priority list for its legislative agenda this year is a Bill to amend the Constitution to introduce political and electoral reforms.

Billy Nyaku , The leader of South African opposition party was fascinated by the NUP, especially how it won 57 seats in Parliament within two years of its creation.