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{
    "id": 1201980,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1201980/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 234,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 407,
        "legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
        "slug": "ledama-olekina"
    },
    "content": "Speech and his wishes, I would only conclude that the President would want us to go back to a Westminster kind of parliamentary system. This is whereby, the representatives elect one of their own to become the head of government so that they can be accountable to that person in that House. If this Parliament goes ahead and follows through with the proposal made by the President, we will be amending Article 153 of the Constitution which is quite explicit and very clear. It states as follows - “A Cabinet Secretary shall attend before a committee of the National Assembly or the Senate when required by the committee to answer any questions concerning a matter for which a Cabinet Secretary is responsible.” I dare say that in this House, apart from the Senators who are elected and nominated, the only other person who is supposed to stand where I am standing right now, is either the Clerk or the Serjeant-at-Arms helping us. In fact, a very good example that I can use to demonstrate to the public that any other person who stands here is a stranger is one of our own. Hypothetically, if Sen. Crystal Asige, the nominated Senator, would have come on the day when the President was addressing the two Houses of Parliament, she would not have been allowed to sit where she is right now. She would have been asked to sit at the Speaker’s Gallery because she was a stranger even though she was nominated, until she was sworn in as a Senator. The only reason why she can now comfortably sit here is because she has taken the oath. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to invite my colleagues to relook at Articles 153 and 125 of the Constitution very carefully which is what my good friend and colleague Senator or Nandi was referring to in term of, if the Senate or the National Assembly have the quasi-judicial powers to summon witnesses. As the House of reason and as the other Arm of Government I would really like to beseech my colleagues for us to move away from this language of referring to each other as the Opposition and the Government. In this House, I do not see any opposition. What I see is another independent Arm of Government, which is the legislative Arm of Government and tasked to legislate."
}