FUD’s Response to Speaker Jawari’s Position on the Impeachment of the President

The Forum for Unity and Democracy (FUD) disagrees with the position of the Speaker of Federal Parliament, as of 25 September 2015, in which he unilaterally invalidated the impeachment against the President tabled by 93 Members of Parliament (MPs). The FUD finds it to be completely unconstitutional and improper that the Speaker of Parliament should:

(1) Dismiss the impeachment motion submitted by 93 MPs;

(2) Disregard the separation of powers principle by taking on the judicial power vested in the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court, as it is the judiciary that has the mandate to interpret the law and not the Speaker;

(3) Violate his constitutional responsibility of being neutral in the performance of his functions, as per Article 65 (3) of the Provisional Constitution;

The decision of the Speaker displays his inconsistency on the matter, as he stated on 12 September 2015 that MPs would engage in negotiations over the impeachment of the President, and, in the case of failed negotiations, the impeachment would be submitted to the Supreme Court.

Unfortunately, as it seems, this change of position by the Speaker on the subject of the impeachment of the President may be attributed to political pressures emanating from the Office of the President. We believe that the President would like to use the Speaker’s statement as an instrument to reclaim legitimacy as a national leader and to save face in front of the international community so as to attend the UN General Assembly’s 70th Session General Debate in New York.

This statement of the Speaker threatens to divide Parliament and to paralyze its function to legislate and take the President and the Executive to account. The Forum firmly believes that if the Speaker continues to neglect his constitutional duty to serve as a neutral figure, a parliamentary crisis could result in which Parliament ceases to be effective, as had happened in 2011, which had subsequently led to the international intervention under the Kampala Accord.

Given the importance of the Parliament as the bedrock of state-building processes, the Forum implores the Speaker to maintain impartiality and integrity in his conduct as the custodian of the House of the People. Moreover, we firmly believe that questions on the legality of the impeachment should be left solely to the judiciary (the Supreme Court).

As part of our advocacy for increased accountability and transparency in the management of public affairs, the Forum stands with MPs seeking to take the President to account for his conduct in office. Therefore, we call on the Speaker of the Federal Parliament to display neutrality by recanting his latest position on the submitted impeachment motion. This is vital if the Speaker is going to preserve and safeguard the Parliament; uphold the Constitution, good governance and the supremacy of the law.