{"id":385004,"date":"2017-12-21T06:38:58","date_gmt":"2017-12-21T06:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=385004"},"modified":"2017-12-21T06:39:56","modified_gmt":"2017-12-21T06:39:56","slug":"uganda-mps-vote-scrap-presidential-age-limit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/12\/uganda-mps-vote-scrap-presidential-age-limit\/","title":{"rendered":"Uganda MPs vote to scrap presidential age limit"},"content":{"rendered":"
Uganda’s parliament has approved a constitutional change that will allow the current president to run for an unprecedented sixth term in office.<\/p>\n
After three days of debate, MPs voted overwhelmingly to remove the age limit of 75 for presidential candidates.<\/p>\n
It means 73-year-old President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled for more than 30 years, can seek re-election in 2021.<\/p>\n
A two-term limit was scrapped in 2005 to allow Mr Museveni to stand for a third term.<\/p>\n
But that limit has been reinstated following criticism that Mr Museveni could now become president for life.<\/p>\n
His supporters argue that Ugandans can always vote him out of power.<\/p>\n
Opposition MPs walked out of the debate on more than one occasion, and six were suspended for protesting against the bill.<\/p>\n
The constitutional amendment, which was spearheaded by Mr Museveni’s governing National Resistance Movement (NRM), was presented to MPs in September and led to chaotic scenes in parliament.<\/p>\n