This archive report was first published on 3 July 2020.
Published on July 3, 2020, the DAILY MONITOR reported that Ugandan Members of Parliament (MPs) sitting on the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee rejected the Electoral Commission's (EC) decision banning open public rallies ahead of the 2021 General Elections.
The MPs raised concern that the ban would disadvantage candidates participating in the polls, with some questioning the legality of the decision to ban political rallies.
During a meeting attended by Justice minister Ephraim Kamuntu, Attorney General (AG) William Byaruhanga, and officials from EC, the MPs asked government to consider declaring a State of Emergency so that the polls, whose 'credibility' is being threatened by the spread of Covid-19, can be postponed.
Political temperatures have traded high since mid-last month when the electoral body, in its revised roadmap to the 2021 General Election, announced that aspiring candidates will have to campaign 'scientifically' as a measure to fight the spread of Covid-19.
MP Bugiri Municipality MP Asuman Basalirwa said, 'If it is about a pandemic, then it is supposed to be the Ministry of Health, not the EC. My Lord (referring to Justice Byabakama), if this election is discredited, nobody will remember the scientists you are basing on to ban rallies but it will be the EC, which you head.'
