Opposition parties in talks over 2011 polls

Dec 14, 2009

THE main opposition parties yesterday met to galvanise strategies they hope will help them defeat the NRM in the 2011 elections. The parties, meeting under the auspices of the inter-party cooperation, are expected to sign a protocol formulating an inter-p

By Henry Mukasa

THE main opposition parties yesterday met to galvanise strategies they hope will help them defeat the NRM in the 2011 elections. The parties, meeting under the auspices of the inter-party cooperation, are expected to sign a protocol formulating an inter-party alliance today.

They include Uganda People’s Congress (UPC), Justice Forum (JEEMA), Conservative Party (CP), Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) and Social Democrats Party (SDP). The Democratic Party (DP) is not part of the inter-party cooperation.

The forum’s chairperson, Miria Obote, said the inter-party cooperation will build on resolutions made in 2008 for the promotion of internal democracy and draft a road-map and strategies for victory in February 2011.

She accused the NRM Government of dictatorship, gun-bullying tactics and fear of free and fair elections.

“Among the regimes we have had in Uganda, his (Museveni) is the most corrupt, sectarian, extravagant, egocentric, callous and visionless,” the widow of former president Milton Obote said.

“Vague promises, Constitution juggling, capricious arrests side by side with arrogance aimed at forestalling the forces of change are the fixed paths along which this current Government is treading.”

CP leader Ken Lukyamuzi observed that electoral reforms were vital to ensure a level-playing field in the run-up to the 2011 elections. He said the two-term presidential limits needed to be reinstated in the Constitution and the UPDF should stop having MPs. “We could even shun the elections on principle,” he threatened.

FDC vice-president Salaam Musumba noted that the inter-party cooperation had saved the parties from mutual suspicion.

Commenting on the Saturday pass-out of NRM cadres who had completed three months military training, Musumba said: “Instead of electoral reforms, President Museveni and the NRM have made a choice to militarise the country and disintegrate it.”

SDP’s Michael Mabikke urged the opposition to unite so as to beat the Government’s ‘tactic of divide and rule’. In reference to his former party, DP, Mabikke urged opposition parties to discard the fear of being swallowed by bigger opposition parties. “If you have a leader, structures and an ideology, why should you expect to be swallowed?” the Makindye East MP asked.

Rasmus Rasmusson, the deputy chairperson of the Christian Democratic International Centre in Sweden, said it was sad for DP to remain out of the inter-party cooperation because it could cost the opposition victory by splitting the votes. He called for compromises among the members in the spirit of give-and-take.

Rasmusson asked donors to take a keen interest in the build-up to the 2011 elections so that Uganda does not explode like Kenya did two years ago. “Donors should hold those manipulating election results fully responsible for violence that may follow as a direct result of manipulation,” Rasmusson stated.

He pointed out that the United States and the European Union have strong roles in applying appropriate pressure to ensure fair elections. “Could one expect the new Obama administration to be stern in respect of manipulation?” he asked.

Lennart Karlsson of the Centre Party of Sweden hailed the opposition for opting for an alliance, just like the coalition government in Sweden was formed.

“This decision shows your determination to overcome short-sighted power struggle between the parties, to be able to show the citizens of Uganda that you want to foster a new political way, with the people rather than the politicians in focus,” Karlsson remarked.

He said while foreigners cannot dictate political trends in Uganda, they would persuade donors to condemn “all tendencies to manipulate the elections and plans to make it impossible for the opposition parties to campaign correctly and freely.”

He said the formation of forces by the Government and barring opposition politicians in some parts of the country showed that “already the battle will not be a fair play”. Representatives of the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy attended.

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