Movement is Illegal - Besigye
Email This Page
Print This Page
Visit The Publisher's Site
The Monitor (Kampala)
June 29, 2004
Posted to the web June 29, 2004
Badru D. Mulumba
Kampala
Col. Kizza Besigye yesterday called for the immediate dissolution of the Movement
structures in a three-stage process following the nullification of the 2000 referendum
by court.
"It is now formal, with effect from June 25, the Movement is illegal. The ruling
compounded the earlier findings of the Constitutional Court that the Movement was in
all respects a political party. The findings and ruling of the Supreme Court in 2001
showed that the current government is also illegitimate," the former presidential
candidate in 2001 said in a statement. He lives in exile, mainly in South Africa.
His statement came a day after President Yoweri Museveni announced that he would not
accept the Friday's Constitutional Court unanimous annulment of the June 29, 2000
referendum that extended the tenure of the Movement government for five years.
"Government ought to dismantle the illegal NRM (Movement) structures- the Movement
Committees from the village to the National Conference and the Movement Secretariat,"
Besigye said.
He said the government should "set up a Transitional Government of national unity to
manage the transition from the current one-party state to a multiparty democratic
dispensation."
This should be followed by dialogue with all stakeholders to form an all-inclusive
National Conference to advise the Transitional Government and deal with conflict
resolution, ending all wars and insurgency in Uganda.
Museveni said the Friday court ruling was unacceptable and the judges cannot stop
people from holding a referendum on political system they prefer.
The court ruled that no other mandatory referendum can be held because article 271 of
the Constitution that provided for such was not complied with during the 2000
referendum and it expired.
Relevant Links
East Africa
Legal and Judicial Affairs
Uganda
But Besigye said Museveni's rejection of the judgement was predictable and consistent
with his regime's ideology that does not accept that different arms of government
should exercise power independently.
Besigye heads the opposition Reform Agenda formed out of his 2001 campaign task force.
--------------------------------------------
This service is hosted on the Infocom network
http://www.infocom.co.ug
