President Yoweri Museveni has mocked the reported plans by opposition candidates to unite and form a common front to defeat him in next year’s election.
President Museveni said last night that a loosely patched up opposition coalition was “unlikely to work” as has been the case in the past.
According to reports, opposition leaders are still mulling a possible joint candidate to defeat President Museveni.
Following last week’s arrest of NUP Presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, fellow candidates Norbert Mao of DP, Mugisha Muntu of ANT and Gen Henry Tumukunde held a meeting in which they discussed furthering cooperation.
At the end of the meeting, Norbert Mao told press that the possibility of opposition coalition was even more likely given their projection that President Museveni might fail to get more than 51% of vote, forcing a re-run.
However, while speaking in Bugisu sub-region yesterday Museveni said coalitions in Uganda have not worked and will not work.
“You can see our opposition here, they are trying to form an alliance…by patching things around,” Museveni said.
“This is not easy especially if you don’t have an organic view point of society”
Museveni noted that back in the 1960s the three political parties of DP which was predominantly Catholic, UPC of the protestants and Kabaka Yekka of Buganda in the end failed win a majority in parliament and were forced into a loose coalition that lasted only two years.
If you take the line of religious sectarianism, there is no religion in Uganda that makes 40% of the population. As for tribes, no tribe has 17% of the population. That means that you cannot form a government and in the end there will be instability,” he said .
