KAMPALA: The Ugandan government wants to remove the age limit for presidential candidates, a senior official said on Friday, a move that would allow Yoweri Museveni to stay in office.
The rules were already changed in 2005 to remove a two-term limit that allowed Museveni, now 72 and in his fifth term, to stay on. Under the current constitution, he would be too old to run in the next election, due in 2021.
Mwesigwa Rukutana, Uganda’s deputy attorney general, said the Cabinet was examining several possible changes to the constitution and that the age limit was one of them. The proposals will be put to parliament.
“If anybody has been serving very well and the population thinks he still has a lot to contribute he should not be precluded from doing so merely because he has clocked 75 (years),” he said.
“There are so many people who like that (age limit) amendment. As long as people are voting, age of the candidate doesn’t matter,” Rukutana said.
Museveni, president since 1986, has not publicly stated he intends to run for another term but many Ugandans assume the move to lift the 75-year age limit is to let him do so.
He is already one of the longest-serving leaders in a continent where many presidents have changed their constitutions to hold on to power beyond what was initially envisaged.
Rukutana denied the proposal was being crafted to benefit Museveni, and declined to say when the government planned to present its proposals.
Museveni’s spokesman, Don Wanyama, declined to say if the president would seek another term, calling such talk “speculation.”
Museveni’s critics accuse him of using security forces and the judiciary to stifle opposition and say government officials are rarely punished for widespread corruption.
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Uganda seeks constitutional change that would let Museveni extend rule
Uganda seeks constitutional change that would let Museveni extend rule
South Korea calls for resuming dialogue with North
- President Lee Jae Myung has sought to mend ties with the nuclear-armed North since taking office in June
- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul
SEOUL: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called on Sunday for dialogue with North Korea to resume, after Pyongyang last week shunned the prospect of diplomacy with its neighbor.
Since taking office in June, a dovish Lee has sought to mend ties with the nuclear-armed North, which reaffirmed its anti-Seoul approach during a party meeting last week.
“As my administration has repeatedly made clear, we respect the North’s system and will neither engage in any type of hostile acts, nor pursue any form of unification by absorption,” Lee said in a speech marking the anniversary of a historical campaign against Japan’s colonial rule.
“We will also continue our efforts to resume dialogue with the North,” he said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, describing its overtures as “clumsy, deceptive farce and a poor work.”
Speaking at the party congress in Pyongyang, Kim said North Korea has “absolutely no business dealing with South Korea, its most hostile entity, and will permanently exclude South Korea from the category of compatriots.”
But he also said the North could “get along well” with the United States if Washington acknowledges its nuclear status.
Speculation has mounted over whether US President Donald Trump will seek a meeting with Kim during planned travels to China.
Last year, Trump said he was “100 percent” open to a meeting.
Previous Trump-Kim summits during the US president’s first term fell apart after the pair failed to agree over sanctions relief — and what nuclear concessions North Korea might make in return.
Since taking office in June, a dovish Lee has sought to mend ties with the nuclear-armed North, which reaffirmed its anti-Seoul approach during a party meeting last week.
“As my administration has repeatedly made clear, we respect the North’s system and will neither engage in any type of hostile acts, nor pursue any form of unification by absorption,” Lee said in a speech marking the anniversary of a historical campaign against Japan’s colonial rule.
“We will also continue our efforts to resume dialogue with the North,” he said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, describing its overtures as “clumsy, deceptive farce and a poor work.”
Speaking at the party congress in Pyongyang, Kim said North Korea has “absolutely no business dealing with South Korea, its most hostile entity, and will permanently exclude South Korea from the category of compatriots.”
But he also said the North could “get along well” with the United States if Washington acknowledges its nuclear status.
Speculation has mounted over whether US President Donald Trump will seek a meeting with Kim during planned travels to China.
Last year, Trump said he was “100 percent” open to a meeting.
Previous Trump-Kim summits during the US president’s first term fell apart after the pair failed to agree over sanctions relief — and what nuclear concessions North Korea might make in return.
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