Gerald Bareebe
Kampala
FDC leader Kizza Besigye has ordered party lawyers to petition the Constitutional Court seeking to declare parts of the Presidential Elections Act (PEA) unconstitutional.
Three years after Dr Besigye lost a Supreme Court petition contesting the nature of President Musevenis win in the 2006 election, the Forum for Democratic Change leader wants Article 59, Section 6 (a) of the PEA declared unconstitutional because it compels judges to make subjective decisions in resolving electoral petitions.
In an interview with Daily Monitor yesterday, Dr Besigye said the section requires judges to make judgments based on their opinion on whether flaws in the elections substantially affected the eventual outcome of the ballot.
The section states: The election of a candidate as President shall only be annulled if proved to the satisfaction of the court that the election was not conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in those provisions and that non-compliance affected the results of the elections in a substantial manner.
Dr Besigye said: That section is unconstitutional because it gives judges an avenue to make decisions subjectively.
The section has remained contentious since the last election with critics saying it demands an unreasonable burden of proof on petitioners to show how electoral malpractices affected the actual number of ballots cast for and against them.
The FDC leaders comments came on the day Supreme Court Judge George William Kanyeihamba said in an interview published in this newspaper, that his colleagues on the bench had erred when they refused to cancel the disputed 2006 election despite finding that it was not entirely free and fair and that election laws had been violated.
Kampala
FDC leader Kizza Besigye has ordered party lawyers to petition the Constitutional Court seeking to declare parts of the Presidential Elections Act (PEA) unconstitutional.
Three years after Dr Besigye lost a Supreme Court petition contesting the nature of President Musevenis win in the 2006 election, the Forum for Democratic Change leader wants Article 59, Section 6 (a) of the PEA declared unconstitutional because it compels judges to make subjective decisions in resolving electoral petitions.
In an interview with Daily Monitor yesterday, Dr Besigye said the section requires judges to make judgments based on their opinion on whether flaws in the elections substantially affected the eventual outcome of the ballot.
The section states: The election of a candidate as President shall only be annulled if proved to the satisfaction of the court that the election was not conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in those provisions and that non-compliance affected the results of the elections in a substantial manner.
Dr Besigye said: That section is unconstitutional because it gives judges an avenue to make decisions subjectively.
The section has remained contentious since the last election with critics saying it demands an unreasonable burden of proof on petitioners to show how electoral malpractices affected the actual number of ballots cast for and against them.
The FDC leaders comments came on the day Supreme Court Judge George William Kanyeihamba said in an interview published in this newspaper, that his colleagues on the bench had erred when they refused to cancel the disputed 2006 election despite finding that it was not entirely free and fair and that election laws had been violated.
