By J. Maseruka & Chloe Mukai The European Union (EU) observers’ preliminary findings indicate that the Thursday presidential and parliamentary elections were generally well administered, transparent, competitive and relatively peaceful, though there were some shortcomings.
The eight-page report also shows that the voting procedures were generally well-followed by polling station officials and the secrecy of the vote was well maintained.
Max van den Berg, the EU chief observer who yesterday afternoon read the report to local and foreign journalists at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel, however, said a level-playing field was not in place for the elections.
Flanked by Johan van Hecke, the leader of the six EU parliamentary delegation, Van den Berg said, “Despite the technical shortcomings, we have not observed any patterns of wrong-doing during the elections.”
Van Hecke said, “The secrecy of the ballot was respected. We observed no intimidation.” The team said the amended national Constitution failed to provide the basis for a fair multi-party election “because it envisages the continuity of the Movement organs throughout the process until election day.”
“The Movement must be dissolved in order to provide equal opportunities for all political parties. Further consideration should be given to reinstating, for future presidential elections, the two term limit as originally foreseen in the 1995 Constitution.
“This must nevertheless be a choice made by the newly-elected parliamentarians, civil society and Ugandans, and not by outsiders,” they said.
Unsealed ballot boxes, missing names from the registers and poor civic education were some of the shortcomings.
The EU team hailed the Electoral Commission for independence, transparency and for technical improvements that resulted into capturing 90% of the potential voters.
The press briefing was also attended by Antonio Reis, the EU deputy chief observer and Mathias Eick, the EU press officer, ambassadors and other observers.
EU observers urged the incumbent if defeated to accept the results and to allow democracy to prevail. They advised all political leaders to be responsible in calling for calm and go to courts of law if aggrieved.
Van den Berg said, “Do not go to the streets because it is not respectful to Ugandans who participated in voting.”
The EU report also said the pre-election and campaign period was dominated by controversial accusations and court cases brought by the State against Dr. Kizza Besigye, Museveni’s main challenger. Besigye made 27 appearances in court during campaigns, thus limiting his campaign time.
EU observers said despite the adoption of a multi-party system, the Movement structures remained intact, active and funded by the State throughout the election period. “The president and his party enjoyed substantial advantages over their opponents, which went further than usual advantages of incumbency.
The president and his party utilised state resources for their campaign, including use of government cars, personnel and advertising, and received overwhelming positive coverage on State television and radio. The 200-member EU team that covered 1,200 polling stations in 55 districts said the polls had the highest local and international observer coverage put at 85%.
They said the campaign was largely peaceful and allowed freedom of expression, assembly, and association.
The observers hailed the media for providing a wide variety of information with editorial coverage being largely positive or neutral.
However, they said the State-owned UBC TV favoured Museveni.
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