Senator Mukabalisa seeks Lower Chamber seat

Senator Donatilla Mukabalisa is seeking a seat in the lower chamber of Parliament on the Liberal Party ticket, according to a provisional list of parliamentary candidates released by the National Electoral Commission on Tuesday. Mukabalisa, who served as a Member of Parliament for eight years from 2000 to 2008 is top on the PL list of parliamentary candidates. “There is no law prohibiting me from vying for a parliamentary seat. And I would not be the first one to make such a move, you are aware of Cabinet ministers who left their offices to vie for a parliamentary seat,” Mukabalisa told The New Times yesterday, adding that, “I did it in the interest of my party.” In the 2008 parliamentary elections, three Cabinet ministers, including former Health Minister, Dr Jean Damascene Ntawukuriryayo vied for parliamentary seats. Ntawukuriryayo was later elected deputy Speaker of Parliament. Three years later, he was among the President’s appointed senators and was elected president of Senate, a post he holds to date. Speaking to The New Times, Protais Mitali who heads PL, welcomed the move, saying it was normal. Mukabalisa is the Secretary General of PL. If she wins a parliamentary seat, she will have to resign from Senate after serving two years of the eight-year mandate.