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From Movement
to Movement The G7
already have Reform Agenda and now would like to woo PAFO on their side, then
the group of 7 will be amalgamate by the movement left, right and center. Then they
will pry on those with selective memory loss! Why not then stay with the movement
wholesale other than supporting those who have fallen on the wayside? What makes
our so-called politicians to be so myopic and think that after 20 year in the movement,
they would opt out to be seen as alternatives? -----Original Message----- Regional - East African - Nairobi - Kenya Rebel Movement Faction 'Joins'
Opposition
By DAVID KAIZA UGANDA'S
GROUP of Seven opposition parties is wooing the breakaway National Resistance
Movement's Parliamentary Advocacy Forum (PAFO), with a view to setting up a
political alliance ahead of the next general election scheduled for 2006.
The
Group of Seven comprises the Uganda People's Congress, the Justice Forum, the
National Democratic Forum, the Democratic Party, The Free Movement, the
Conservative Party and the Reform Agenda. Following
last Thursday's Supreme Court ruling, the opposition may be sensing a weakening
of the government's position. The
Supreme Court nullified the Act that amended some articles of the constitution,
saying that the amendment of these articles was an infringement of fundamental
human rights guaranteed under the constitution. The seven judges of the court
headed by the chief justice, Benjamin Odoki, unanimously ruled that the
amendment was unconstitutional and that the Constitutional Court had powers to
interpret any article of the constitution against the other. Augustine
Ruzindana, leader of PAFO, told The
EastAfrican that his organisation had a working relationship with
the Group of Seven and they expect to jointly draft an alternative political
roadmap for the country. Dr
Cryspus Kiyonga, the national political commissar, has already written a
document dubbed "the roadmap" proposing a multiparty system for
Uganda. PAFO
emerged after the Cabinet reshuffle last May which saw the expulsion of Bidandi
Ssali and Eriya Kategaya. The forum, which is widely known as the "Malwa group,"
– named after a local brew – was formed primarily to oppose any
extension to President Museveni's tenure in office. The
Group of Seven coalesced from a divided opposition, which lost the 2001
election to President Museveni. Taking
a cautious stand, however, Mr Ruzindana, who is also the Member of Parliament
for Ruhama County in Ntungamo, said that many members of the Group of Seven
were also members of PAFO and that the collaboration between PAFO and the Group
of Seven was not formal. The
president of the National Democratic Forum, Chaapa Karuhanga, who is the leader
of the Group of Seven, said that his group realised it had similar ideals to
those of the breakaway Movement faction. "We
are going to continue smoking people out of the Movement," Reagan Okumu,
secretary to the 14-member opposition delegation, said, adding, "We have
already succeeded in persuading the PAFO group." The 14-member opposition
delegation held talks with the ruling Movement two weeks ago in Kampala, but
the talks collapsed on January 23 after the Movement insisted on giving the
talks a consultative status, therefore meaning they would not be binding. The
opposition delegation has written a protest letter to Dr Kiyonga to press for
binding conditions for both parties at the talks. Mr
Karuhanga said that it was in the government's interest to talk to the
opposition. "We saw that the legitimacy of the government might be in
question and proposed these talks because we want a soft landing in 2006,"
he said. Now
wooing Movement politicians is part of the strategy that the opposition say
they are adopting following the collapse of the talks between them and the
government. At the same time, the Movement is also seeking members of the
opposition who have broken away from the main parties. This
comes at a time when rebellion within the Movement itself is growing. Sources
say that only about 70 Movement MPs bothered to show up for the Kyankwanzi
meeting recently, a third of those invited. The
opposition are already reactivating their national membership, with the
Democratic Party selling membership cards, while new parties like the Reform
Agenda are expanding membership nationally. Mr
Ruzindana said that this kind of co-operation should not be compared with what
happened in Kenya when opposition political parties formed the National Rainbow
Coalition (NARC), which brought an end to decades of Kanu's dominance.
"What
is happening in Uganda is not parallel to developments in Kenya," he said.
NARC arose out of 10 years of multipartyism. For us, it is different in the
sense that many of those within the Group of Seven are already members of PAFO.
NARC had the civil society pushing them to unity." On
how closely the breakaway Movement group is now leaning towards the opposition,
Mr Ruzindana said: "We might develop an alternative roadmap
together." Do you Yahoo!? --- --- |
- ugnet_: Rebel Movement Faction 'Joins' Opposition Omar Kezimbira
- Ed Kironde
