Museveni will hand over power â€" NRM
Nov 13, 2008
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni is willing to hand over power if he loses through a free and fair election, the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party said yesterday.
By Fortunate Ahimbisibwe
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni is willing to hand over power if he loses through a free and fair election, the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party said yesterday.
Addressing a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Kyadondo, NRM spokesperson Mary Karooro Okurut said Museveni would not stick to power if the NRM was trounced in an election.
“If Museveni lost an election, he would definitely hand over power. Even the NRM as a party would encourage such a move. We would tell him, thank you very much for the good leadership over the last 20 years. We would then escort him to Rwakitura,†Karooro said.
Karooro was responding to an opinion poll, which was published in the media on Wednesday. The poll showed that Museveni would not secure a 51% win if the elections were conducted then.
The survey also indicated that more than half of Ugandans believe Museveni is unlikely to voluntarily hand over power.
“We have been fighting for democracy and we would uphold the Constitution if he lost in any unlikely event,†Karooro said.
She said the NRM national delegates conference would elect the flag-bearer of the party and if Museveni is challenged, he was ready to accept the results.
“Even internally as a party, Museveni is ready to hand over. If for example, Felix Okot Ongom wins, so be it,†Karooro said.
She also challenged the findings of the opinion poll, saying it was full of irregularities and the data collection mechanism was inconsistent.
Karooro said the NRM studied the poll and found that the statistical analysis was deficient. She added that the opinion poll was not independently audited, which undermined its credibility
Karooro pointed out that the poll was biased because it was carried out at a time when the Central Government and the Buganda government were involved in a row over the Land Amendment Bill.
“This was a politically biased period, skewed negatively to the NRM party. This serves as an indicator of negative, biased responses towards the NRM party at the time of conducting the opinion poll,†she stated.
Kabula County MP James Kakooza said it was still too early to start speculating about the 2011 presidential elections.
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni is willing to hand over power if he loses through a free and fair election, the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party said yesterday.
Addressing a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Kyadondo, NRM spokesperson Mary Karooro Okurut said Museveni would not stick to power if the NRM was trounced in an election.
“If Museveni lost an election, he would definitely hand over power. Even the NRM as a party would encourage such a move. We would tell him, thank you very much for the good leadership over the last 20 years. We would then escort him to Rwakitura,†Karooro said.
Karooro was responding to an opinion poll, which was published in the media on Wednesday. The poll showed that Museveni would not secure a 51% win if the elections were conducted then.
The survey also indicated that more than half of Ugandans believe Museveni is unlikely to voluntarily hand over power.
“We have been fighting for democracy and we would uphold the Constitution if he lost in any unlikely event,†Karooro said.
She said the NRM national delegates conference would elect the flag-bearer of the party and if Museveni is challenged, he was ready to accept the results.
“Even internally as a party, Museveni is ready to hand over. If for example, Felix Okot Ongom wins, so be it,†Karooro said.
She also challenged the findings of the opinion poll, saying it was full of irregularities and the data collection mechanism was inconsistent.
Karooro said the NRM studied the poll and found that the statistical analysis was deficient. She added that the opinion poll was not independently audited, which undermined its credibility
Karooro pointed out that the poll was biased because it was carried out at a time when the Central Government and the Buganda government were involved in a row over the Land Amendment Bill.
“This was a politically biased period, skewed negatively to the NRM party. This serves as an indicator of negative, biased responses towards the NRM party at the time of conducting the opinion poll,†she stated.
Kabula County MP James Kakooza said it was still too early to start speculating about the 2011 presidential elections.