The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party has officially announced nominations for members interested in vying for speaker and deputy of parliament positions on the party ticket.
Election of the speaker and deputy is the 1st business of the 11th parliament that takes over on May 17th, 2021.
The announcement was made on Tuesday afternoon by the NRM electoral commission boss Tanga Odoi.
Odoi has asked all interested members to pick interest forms from the NRM electoral commission starting tomorrow.
This communication comes at a time when members have already thrown in their bids for the same position.
These include the incumbent speaker Rebecca Kadaga and her deputy Jacob Oulanyah and Rakai district Woman MP Juliet Kinyamatama
Meanwhile, for the Deputy Speaker race, Jacob Oboth Oboth (West Budama county), Lwemiyaga County Member of Parliament Theodore Ssekikubo, Anita Among (Bukedea woman), Thomas Tayebwa (Ruhinda North), and David Bahati (Ndorwa West) have all shown interest.
The race seems to be tight as Opposition candidates have also shown interest in both positions including the Kira Municipality Member of Parliament, Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda.
Ssemujju has written to all opposition parties to implore their Mp-elects to rally behind him as a show of solidarity.
In the new parliament, FDC has only 27 and NUP has the highest number from the opposition (61).
The NRM is expected to endorse a candidate for both positions who will compete against the opposition. Article 82 of the constitutionprovides that there shall be a Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Parliament, who are elected by Members of Parliament from among their number.
The Speaker is the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Commission, the Committee of Appointments, and the Business Committee.
The Speaker chairs all sittings of Parliament and ensures that debates are handled in accordance with the Rules of Procedure.
