Mr Museveni during a media interview at his home in Rwakitura last month when he rejected calls for dialogue with opposition. FILE PHOTO
By Tabu Butagira (email the author)
Posted Tuesday, May 10 2011 at 00:00
Posted Tuesday, May 10 2011 at 00:00
Just 48 hours to his fifth swearing-in on Thursday, President Museveni has agreed to talks with opposition parties mediated by neutral elders but said their demand for fresh elections is “unacceptable”.
“We cannot associate ourselves with playing around with the Constitution of Uganda and its people by talking about fresh elections,” Mr Museveni wrote in a May 5 reply to Retired Justice James Ogoola, who is brokering the dialogue.
“We cannot associate ourselves with playing around with the Constitution of Uganda and its people by talking about fresh elections,” Mr Museveni wrote in a May 5 reply to Retired Justice James Ogoola, who is brokering the dialogue.
Mr Museveni, in power since 1986, won the February 18 presidential vote with 68 per cent but his competitors say the election was “a sham” and have said they will not to recognise any government formed on the basis of its results.
The political disagreements have remotely evolved into the walk-to-work demonstrations beckoned by Activists for Change, a new pressure group, ostensibly to extract government action to tame the 14-per cent plus inflation.
The accompanying clashes between security forces and demonstrators over the trek, in which 10 people have allegedly been shot dead, has provoked emotions locally and discredited Uganda internationally, forcing peacemakers, among them Justice Ogoola, to press for dialogue among different political principals.
Initially, the talks Mr Museveni called as the rotational chair of the Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD) to tackle national issues such as oil and security, were slated for April 11.
Initially, the talks Mr Museveni called as the rotational chair of the Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD) to tackle national issues such as oil and security, were slated for April 11.
Opposition demands
However, the opposition pulled out at the last minute citing the brutal arrest, a day earlier, of FDC leader Kizza Besigye. Leaders of main opposition parties now say they can only sit and discuss with President Museveni if there are guarantees for a fresh presidential ballot, an end to brutalisation of their supporters by security operatives and unconditional release of hundreds arrested for participating in the walk-to-work protest that began on April 11.
However, the opposition pulled out at the last minute citing the brutal arrest, a day earlier, of FDC leader Kizza Besigye. Leaders of main opposition parties now say they can only sit and discuss with President Museveni if there are guarantees for a fresh presidential ballot, an end to brutalisation of their supporters by security operatives and unconditional release of hundreds arrested for participating in the walk-to-work protest that began on April 11.
In his letter referenced PO/17, Mr Museveni says he is fine with the acceptance contained in a letter jointly signed by UPC, DP and Jeema leaders for a dialogue mediated by elders, although he would have preferred it be held under the aegis of IPOD.
IPOD, launched in 2006, is a platform bringing together political parties with representation in Parliament to resolve contentious issues, national or inter-party.
Impunity
Mr Museveni said the demand for immediate and unconditional release of incarcerated work-to-work demonstrators is unacceptable because it engenders impunity. The suspects, he said, involved in “breaking the law and rioting”.
Mr Museveni said the demand for immediate and unconditional release of incarcerated work-to-work demonstrators is unacceptable because it engenders impunity. The suspects, he said, involved in “breaking the law and rioting”.
The demo organisers argue that they are always peaceful in their marches until police arrive to block and teargas them. Mr Museveni said neither the secretariat of the Inter-Religious Council nor individuals such as Kampala Bishop Zac Niringiye, a vocal human rights campaigner and government critic, should be drafted to mediate.
No date has yet been fixed for the revived efforts for the talks.
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