he Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the ruling party NRM has picked Jacob Oulanyah as their choice of flag bearer in elections of Speaker for parliament. It is not yet clear if Kadaga will go ahead to contest tomorrow when parliament votes.
The CEC decision will be followed by a formal election through secret ballot at the NRM Parliamentary caucus this afternoon.
Hundreds of NRM Members and some Independents, are already at State House for the vote by secret ballot to confirm the party’s flag bearer.
National Resistance Movement-NRM party confirmed earlier it had invited independent Members of Parliament to join the NRM caucus meeting. The meeting is expected to endorse the NRM choice for the position of the Speaker of Parliament
NRM Secretary General Justine Kasule Lumumba said in a letter last evening, that President Yoweri Museveni, who is also the National Chairman of the NRM party, has directed her to invite all NRM leaning independent MPs for the meeting.
Initially, the NRM Electoral Commission Chairman Dr Tanga Odoi had said that NRM leaning independent MPs will not take part in the caucus meeting. Odoi noted that the independent MPs would only participate in NRM parliamentary caucus meetings after they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to legalize their working relationship with the party.
The NRM has at least 337 of the 529 members of the eleventh parliament. In the same house, there are 73 independent candidates, 43 of whom initially belonged to the ruling party, and fell off after losing the party primaries.
The incumbent Rebecca Kadaga and her deputy Jacob Oulanyah Lokori have expressed interest in the race for the Speaker.
NRM leaning Independent MP, Juliet Kinyamatama (Rakai Woman Representative), Forum for Democratic Change-FDC’s Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda and Bukoto Central MP Richard Ssebamala of DP have also expressed interest in the same position
