Oct 30, 2015 Still on election matters, Uganda’s opposition parties have decried an escalating police crackdown ahead of the country’s parliamentary and presidential elections next year.
The political temperature took a quick turn recently after opposition presidential candidate, Kizza Besigye, was arrested on his way to a rally.
Commenting on the event, Nicholas Opiyo, a rights lawyer and political analyst said:
“President Museveni if he leaves now, he will be remembered for the tear-gas on the street, the suppression of the opposition, the different rebellion he has been fighting throughout his reign in power since 1986, he has better fighting rebellion after another, I think over 19 rebellions, so I think President Museveni has not been able to keep this country at complete total peace and he is looking for a time when he can do that, when he can show marvelous streets, high flying planes, good road networks and trains and things like that,”
Besigye, who is the candidate of the Forum for Democratic Change, said:
“Our rights as citizens have not changed because of taking forms to the Electoral Commission and we are a registered political part in this country. We have legitimate party activities including getting our candidates at all levels which is on going. The NRM is conducting its primaries, we must conduct our primaries we must prepare our own candidates for Elections, so this is simply a criminal project of the Museveni Junta,”