Compete in Parliament

Apr 07, 2006

THE Supreme Court has dismissed Col Kizza Besigye’s petition that the re-election of President Museveni be annulled.

THE Supreme Court has dismissed Col Kizza Besigye’s petition that the re-election of President Museveni be annulled.

The ruling of the Supreme Court was not a whitewash. The Supreme Court found that rules on tallying and vote counting were not properly followed; not enough was done to check bribery and intimidation; and that there were instances of multiple voting. However the judges believed by 4 to 3 that these malpractices were not sufficient to warrant annulment of the election.

This critical assessment of the election has been totally rejected by Col Besigye. The FDC president said that his party would now “vigorously mobilise all Ugandans to channel the popular discontent towards actions that will weaken and dislodge the dictatorship”. More alarmingly, he said “subsequent petitions are likely to be addressed to courts similar to the one in which President Museveni found confidence in 1981”, an apparent reference to the formation of the NRA in Luwero.

Besigye’s reaction to the verdict is unhealthy for both the FDC and Uganda. Rightly or wrongly, the Supreme Court has made its decision. If Besigye rejects the authority of the Supreme Court, he is in effect rejecting constitutionalism in Uganda.

The right way forward today is for FDC to develop and mobilise as an effective parliamentary opposition, loyal to Uganda and its institutions. This will help stabilise the new era of multi-party politics in Uganda and even improve the FDC’s chances of winning the 2011 elections.

But if FDC pursues the path of extra-parliamentary confrontation, it will marginalise itself an extremist group, undermine its long-term future and possibly destabilise Uganda.
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