Mao Proposes Restoration of Presidential Term Limits and Proportional Representation in Parliament.

By Jovia Naddamba.

The Minister for Constitutional Affairs Hon. Norbert Mao has put forward a proposal suggesting that the restoration of presidential term limits and the implementation of proportional representation in Parliament should be among the constitutional changes to be taken into account.

On Wednesday, Norbert Mao presented his suggestions during a national stakeholders' dialogue on constitutional reforms that was held at the Golf Course Hotel in Kampala and organized by the National NGO Forum.

In his statement to the media, Mao expressed that the decision to remove presidential term limits has been met with disapproval from a significant number of Ugandans, and therefore, he believes it is crucial to re-evaluate this decision.

“Some Ugandans want us to restore the five-year term limits twice for any elected leader. There are those who say they are so tired of politicians who lie and cling to power. They propose that we should go the Mexican way; give a long term six or seven-year one term maximum to anybody however good you’re,” Mao said.

Apart from the restoration of presidential term limits, the Minister also suggested that changes should be made to the way leaders are elected, especially in Parliament.

Mao also suggested that due to the large size of Parliament, Uganda should consider implementing proportional representation as a solution to the problem of the "winner takes all" approach.

“We have got the issue of the size of Parliament. Do we need all that number? If we say an MP represents 150,000 people, then we need a formula, and that can only be proportional representation based on the electoral areas where each party will bring a list, and the list will have names of their chosen representatives out of whom they will assign sits based on the proportion and percentage of votes they win in a particular area,” he said.

Mao added that the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs already has a draft proposal ready with most of the suggestions discussed in their meetings. He further stated that they plan to have a secretariat for the Constitutional Review Committee in the form of the Uganda Law Reform Commission.

In 2005, there was a significant vote by Members of Parliament (MPs) in favor of removing the restriction on presidential term limits, allowing for the possibility of serving more than two terms as President.