Opposition alliance nominates Mbabazi

By Nicholas Wassajja & Norah Mukimba

The Democratic Alliance (TDA) has nominated former Prime Minister John Patrick Amama Mbabazi as one of the aspiring joint presidential candidates for the 2016 poll.
 
Mbabazi was nominated Friday night at the TDA head offices in Naguru after he had returned his forms that had been found faulty earlier in the day.

Flanked by his lawyer Severino Twinobusingye, Mbabazi, also a former secretary general of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), was among others received by TDA director Bishop Zac Niringiye, TDA national candidates committee chairperson Livingstone Okello Okello, Godber Tumushabe, JEEMA president Asuman Basalirwa and DP organizing secretary, Suleiman Kidandala.

Mbabazi, through Severino on Thursday afternoon, wrote to TDA summit to allow him two more weeks from closure of the nomination date, to fulfill the nomination requirements.
 
The TDA summit accepted Mbabazi's request for deadline extension for receipt of nomination forms for aspiring joint presidential candidates.

Subsequently, Mbabazi was expected to return the papers Friday midday.

Before being nominated, Mbabazi was entailed to sign the TDA protocol and the citizen's compact for free and fair elections, a thing that he did as leader of the Go Forward Pro-change group.

TDA is a coalition of opposition political parties and pressure groups seeking to oust the incumbent regime.
 
Mbabazi will now face off with Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) flag bearer Kiiza Besigye, Democratic Party President Norbert Mao and Former vice president Gilbert Bukenya who were nominated early this week.

After being nominated, referring to the last album of fallen pop music legend Michael Jackson titled, "this is it," Mbabazi expressed pleasure that at last he had formalized his relationship with the TDA.

"I think this is it. Do you know that song that was meant to be MJ's come back hit? The question is did the song decide his fate? I leave that to you. Although we still have pending issues with the protocol, we identify with all democratic forces that desire change," Mbabazi said.

According to Okello Okello, after receiving forms from all interested aspirants, the national candidate's selection committee will go for a closed door retreat where they will scrutinize their papers and come up with a report that will be presented to the TDA summit for consideration during consensus to come up with a joint candidate.

Their roadmap indicates that the process that started August 25th with call for expression of interest will be climaxed September 14th with announcement of a joint presidential candidate and campaign team. A day to closure of picking national electoral commission presidential nomination forms.
 
It also shows September 6th-8th and 10th-13th as retreats to process nomination for joint candidates and TDA summit to decide on joint candidate and campaign team respectively.