anti-homosexuality bill 2009 – Page 24

Breaking: Ugandan Parliament stalled on technicality, fate of anti-gay bill uncertain; Parliament adjourned sine die

Read my concise rendering of today’s events and those leading up to today at Huffington Post.
For details, read on…
Despite being called to business today by Speaker Edward Ssekandi, Uganda’s parliamentary session has been stalled today and may adjourn (it did adjourn, see update below) without taking any action on pending legislation, including the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. According to parliamentary spokeswoman, Helen Kawesa, Parliament is stalled on a “technicality.” She said there is no Cabinet in place because it was dissolved in preparation for the end of the 8th Parliament in advance of yesterday’s Presidential inauguration. It is unclear who raised the issue of the necessity for Cabinet to be place for business to be conducted. However the effect is that the session is winding up, with members discussing how to proceed before the end of the 8th Parliament on 18th.
According to this report, Speaker Ssekandi ordered Ministers on Monday to “vacate their seats” yesterday, the same day as the inauguration of President Museveni. However, at that time, the Speaker seemed to indicate that business could be conducted.

He said the directive to vacate the front bench seats which are only a reserve for government ministers and shadow ministers (opposition) does not mean affected members should stop attending and transacting parliament work.
He said the Eighth parliament runs till May 15, a day before the members of the Ninth parliament’s swearing-in-ceremony commences. The ruling NRM ministers and shadow ministers known occupy front bench seats in the parliament chambers while transacting parliament business.

The order paper on the Parliament website shows no bills on the agenda which indicates that the matter of the missing Cabinet must have come up prior to convening the session. The fate of the AHB is still not clear and may not be resolved until the last day of Parliament. Ms. Kawesa said the MPs were discussing a motion to continue all business until the next Parliament perhaps next week, when a new Cabinet is in place.
UPDATE: Apparently, there will be no more business but it is unclear whether a motion to continue was entertained. This announcement just appeared on the Parliament website:

Emotional farewells as Eighth Parliament closes
The term of office for Members of Parliament elected to the Eighth Parliament of Uganda has come to an end. Speaker of Parliament Rt.Hon.Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi announced to MPs, in an emmotional (sic) sitting , the end of the term of the Eighth parliament urging MPs to appreciate and embrace the multiparty political system.
“This Parliament was different from all parliaments before it. But my assessment is that people still long for the movement political system other than the multiparty system. The two systems are different and what you must know is that under multiparty system, Mps on the government side came with one manifesto that the executive is trying to implement,” he told MPs.
Speaker Ssekandi announced that the official proclamation for the end of the Eighth Parliament had already been signed and would be gazetted on May 18, the day the ninth Parliament would commence.

If he was quoted properly by the Uganda Razor, he said earlier in the week that the Eighth Parliament went to the 15th and business could be conducted without a Cabinet. Today, at a session that he called, he said business could not be conducted and announced that the proclamation ending the Parliament had been signed.
UPDATE: I have confirmed with Helen Kawesa that Parliament was adjourned sine die, meaning that the Speaker could call the members back to session if needed. In this way, there is always a legislative body, even when not in session. The proclamation to close the Parliament is signed but will only go into effect on the 18th.
When I asked spokeswoman Kawesa whether or not the AHB could come up next Parliament without the continuing motion, she said she knew of no means, but would not rule it out. I also asked her why the Speaker called the members back to session knowing that there was no Cabinet. Kawesa said she did not know.
As is stands, with no further action, Bahati will have to ask Parliament permission to move AHB-II as a private member’s bill. If they give him that permission then he can introduce the same bill or a modified one and the process will begin again. Today, however, is a good day for freedom of conscience.
The AP has a report on the matter…

Speaker of Parliament Edward Ssekandi Kiwanuk said there is no time to take up the bill this session, which ends Wednesday, leaving the bill’s future uncertain. Kiwanuk adjourned the parliament Friday and set no date for the body to return.

US State Department condemns Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill

Again.
From CNN:

Washington (CNN) — The State Department Thursday condemned a proposed bill in the Ugandan parliament that could make engaging in homosexual acts a capital offense punishable by death. The bill may be debated Friday by the Ugandan parliament.
“No amendments, no changes, would justify the passage of this odious bill,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters. “Both (President Barack Obama) and (Secretary of State Hillary Clinton) publicly said it is inconsistent with universal human rights standards and obligations.”

Possible amendments to Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill

UPDATE: (4pm) – Apparently, President Museveni cannot directly veto the AHB. I confirmed this with two sources today and read through their Rules of Procedure and Constitution. He can send it back or refuse to assent to it (although it would be the first time he has ever done so) but he cannot directly stop it. If he refuses to assent to it, Parliament can either turn around and pass it or they can wait 30 days for it to become law. It can either pass or fail tomorrow. If it comes up and fails then it is done in present form. If it doesn’t come up tomorrow, then a MP can make a motion to continue all business forward. In addition, I heard today, but cannot confirm that if no motion is passed to continue all business, then the new incoming Speaker could direct the committees to pick up where they left off with unfinished bills from the last Parliament. We apparently could be monitoring this particular AHB until at least May 19.
………………….
This morning I listened in while Ugandan MP David Bahati was speaking with NPR’s Tell Me More program (live at 11am; if not in your area, click the link to listen to the broadcast at noon) and he described some of the suggested changes to the Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
Bahati said they are now focusing on recruitment, promotion and providing care for the victims of homosexuality. Thus, the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs committee will suggest removing the death penalty and the sections regarding “attempted homosexuality” (e.g., touching) and the 24-hour reporting requirement (if you know someone who is gay, you must report to police or face jail/fines).
However, penalties will remain, although these were not disclosed. And it is important to remember that the bill has not been changed as yet. If the bill comes up tomorrow, the committee will make recommendations, and the MPs will discuss them. One will not know what is in the final version until it is read a third time. On the NPR program, Bahati emphasized that the proposals about “promotion” remain. “Promotion of homosexuality,” section 13, of the AHB reads:

13. Promotion of homosexuality.
(1) A person who –
(a) participates in production. procuring, marketing, broadcasting, disseminating, publishing pornographic materials for purposes of promoting homosexuality;
(b) funds or sponsors homosexuality or other related activities;
(c) offers premises and other related fixed or movable assets for purposes of homosexuality or promoting homosexuality;
(d) uses electronic devices which include internet, films, mobile phones for purposes of homosexuality or promoting homosexuality and;
(e) who acts as an accomplice or attempts to promote or in any way abets homosexuality and related practices; commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a line of live thousand currency points or imprisonment of a minimum of five years and a maximum of seven years or both fine and imprisonment.
(2) Where the offender is a corporate body or a business or an association or a non-governmental organization, on conviction its certificate of registration shall be cancelled and the director or proprietor or promoter shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for seven years.

Please note the restrictions on free speech and assembly. Just using a cell phone to meet a date could get you in trouble.
There are no changes that could make this bill acceptable, but the perception of the Uganda supporters is that they have listened to the world and offered a reasonable response. Given this headline in the LA Times yesterday, I am concerned that media will focus on what is altered and not on what remains and what is the intent of the bill.
I was asked on the show what comes next if the bill passes tomorrow. It seems to me that the focus will turn to the President. One day after his inauguration, he will have to decide whether to send the bill back or not. Armchair Uganda watchers out there, what will he do?

NPR's Tell Me More discusses Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill

David Bahati will be on at the top of the show, Tell Me More. I will be on sometime after that to discuss the recent happenings in Uganda regarding the AHB.
To listen, go to the website (or here to listen live) and find where it airs in your neck of the woods. It will be archived later today as well.
There is also an interesting article out this morning at the Daily Beast quoting yours truly.

Spokeswoman: Uganda's anti-gay bill could be continued to next parliament; Parliament will reconvene Friday

UPDATE: (5:40pm ET) – There are quite a few stories being narrated surrounding today’s session in the Ugandan parliament. The AP describes a walkout by female MPs over the Marriage and Divorce bill which left the plenary session without a quorum. If not for that action, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill might have been debated and passed.
I am getting reports that I cannot confirm about deals being made to get the bill to the floor and others to keep it from the floor. Such is politics and I suspect there will be more angling before Friday.
As of now, the Parliament plans a 10am session start time (instead of the usual 2pm start) to run through the day until the remaining bills are discussed. According to two parliamentary spokeswomen, members could still vote to continue business to the next Parliament, if the bills are not considered on Friday.
Clearly, the international response has been noticed in Kampala. Governments, including our own, are promising varying responses if the bill passes as is. Less clear is what happens if the bill passes with amendments which remove the death penalty, and do not criminalize attempted homosexuality. Earlier today, David Bahati declined to tell me any additional possible changes, saying the report is embargoed until is it placed on the table in Parliament. I am pretty sure that any bill will be unacceptable to European and US interests, but it is unclear to me how far the Ugandan government will go to try to craft what they would consider to be a compromise.
UPDATE: (12:10pm ET) – Helen Kawesa just told me that Parliament has adjourned but will reconvene on Friday to consider the remaining bills on the agenda. They will begin in the morning and work until all of the bills are considered. The intent is to address all bills. The AHB is the last one and is the most vulnerable but with an all day session, it is possible for it to get a third reading. According to Kawesa, Friday is absolutely the last day however as the new Parliament is sworn in on Monday.
According to bill author, David Bahati, the Parliament will meet at 10am and address the remaining four bills on the current order paper. He declined to predict the response of the Parliament but felt sure that the bill would get a debate and discussion.
UPDATE: As Jim Burroway pointed out in the comments section, there is a revised order paper up on the Uganda Parliament website. The Anti-Homosexuality Bill is on it. I am attempting to clarify the situation with the Parliament.
In talking with a spokeswoman at Parliament, she confirmed that the Parliament could continue bills until the 9th Parliament if the members agreed to forward all bills. The AHB could not be singled out.
………….
Uganda’s Anti-Homosexual Bill is not on today’s parliamentary agenda. This morning parliamentary spokeswoman, Ranny Ismail, told me that the Anti-Homosexuality Bill is still in committee. The report on the bill is indeed complete but in their procedure, the bill is still considered in committee and is not on the agenda for business today. She added that no more business would be done in this Parliament.
However, when asked if the anti-gay measure was finished, she said that Parliament could carry forward all unfinished business in all committees if a member makes a motion to do so and the motion passes. She said this has happened before. Because she was unsure about the fate of such a motion, she said she would not know the final outcome until about 7pm in Kampala (noon est).
This is the first time I have heard that such a maneuver could be attempted. In all prior interviews with anyone connected with the bill, including David Bahati and Stephen Tashobya, the message has been that the bill must be completed by the end of this Parliament in order to avoid starting from scratch in the next one. Ms. Ismail said if a continuing motion is adopted then all work on all bills not completed in this Parliament will continue in the next. If a motion to continue the business is not passed, then she said Bahati would have to start from the beginning and obtain leave from Parliament to introduce another private member’s bill. Given the backlog of bills on today’s order paper, I suspect the Anti-Homosexuality Bill is not the only bill which would be continued.
There are many questions which become clearer at the end of today’s session. However, other issues will take longer to clarify. No doubt opponents of the bill will have mixed feelings about this development. Today and for a time, the bill will be halted. However, if the motion to continue passes, then the matter will persist indefinitely.
I will update this post as I get information.
See posts from Monday and Tuesday for more background.
Last night Rachel Maddow had a segment on the AHB. A little way into the clip, she features this blog prominently…watch for it.

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Watch again tonight at 9pm. I believe she will have a recap of the day’s events.

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