Monday, October 13, 2003
Movement, Parties Hit Deadlock
THE EASTAFRICAN
TALKS MEANT to break the political deadlock in Uganda failed to make progress last week, as the ruling Movement engaged in a historic dialogue with representatives of Milton Obote's Uganda People's Congress (UPC).
But while accepting the olive branch, a defiant UPC said there would be no progress in the negotiations unless President Museveni's government first repealed a set of "obnoxious laws," including the Political Organisations Act (POA) 2002, under which the parties are supposed to register.
The government team, led by national political commissar Dr Crispus Kiyonga, is trying to persuade the parties to go ahead and register under the law, which a constitutional court ruled null and void earlier this year.
Even though 45 political organisations are reported to have picked up registration forms, the two major traditional political parties � the UPC and the Democratic Party (DP) of Dr Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere, have refused to be registered. The Conservative Party (CP) has also taken the same stand.
The parties say the POA is an "obnoxious law" and that they are already registered.
Dr James Rwanyarare of UPC confirmed to The EastAfrican that he had led his team to a meeting with Mr Kiyonga last Wednesday, where they had made it clear that UPC would not register unless the Movement government agreed to draw up a "road map" in which all political organisations could participate without hindrance.
Jude Mbabali, the public relations officer of DP, said they had not yet been approached formally, but added that Dr Kiyonga had talked about meeting with them. He said DP was ready to enter into a dialogue with the Movement on the transition to multiparty democracy but it should not be done through clandestine meetings with the national political commissar.
"The government should call for a meeting where all political organisations will sit round a table and draw up a road map toward multiparty democracy. Consultations can be made by the Movement, but they need to make it open to all political parties with no conditions attached," Dr Rwanyarare, who heads UPC's Presidential Policy Commission, said.
During the meeting, sources in UPC said that Kiyonga and his team tried to persuade the party to register, but they had refused.
When contacted, Dr Kiyonga neither denied nor confirmed that he had met with some political parties, but said they had started consultations with party leaders.
He said he would be announcing the government team to hold discussions with the parties this week.
The dialogue between the national political commissar and members of the UPC was meant to help the two parties come to terms with the controversy surrounding the opening up of political space in the country before the 2006 elections.
"UPC will not compromise its stand and will continue to challenge sections of the constitution that it feels are obnoxious and the laws that breach the rights of the citizens of this land," said Dr Rwanyarare after the meeting.
Other party members said that UPC's registration would only take place after a court of law had settled the dispute before them or, alternatively, when the Movement government repealed the "bad laws" they put in place "to prevent free competitive multiparty politics, elections and governance in Uganda." UPC has sought help from the constitutional court in challenging the POA.
Dr Rwanyarare, however, welcomed the gesture from the government, saying it was a good initiative and they had agreed to have a dialogue. "We are willing to help the government draw up a road map for free and fair participation of political parties," he said.
During the meeting, UPC members said that Dr Kiyonga was not clear about section 18 and 19 of the POA, which are unconstitutional. The two sections do not allow political parties and organisations to establish offices below the national level, or to sponsor candidates and campaign for them.
Recently, the UPC announced a programme to lead Uganda to what it called the "second independence."
"We shall start with re-organisation of the party; the national organisation committee has been appointed by the party's president, Milton Obote, with specific instructions to reactivate party branches throughout the country and establish new ones where they do not exist," said Mr Rwanyarare.
The party is determined to open branches at the grassroots, he said, adding they did not discuss it during the dialogue because they are ready to go ahead and defy the law, which they term unconstitutional.
"We are ready to face them and challenge them in court if they try to stop us," said Dr Rwanyarare at a press briefing at the party offices in Kampala.
Dr Rwanyarare also expressed his doubts about the success of such meetings, claiming the political situation in the country was not favourable, the situation in the north was alarming and donors were holding back their money.
"I think they organised this meeting because they are in a fix, the donors are putting their money on hold," he said.
Reported by A. Mutumba-Lule and Barbara Among
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search
