EC rejects Opposition demands on elections

Preparations for next year’s general elections got off to a bumpy start yesterday after authorities at the Electoral Commission (EC), rejected Opposition demand for a new 2021 roadmap, born out of a meticulous consultative process.
Opposition parties had rejected virtual campaigns and asked EC to postpone the condensed timelines under the revised electoral roadmap. They had also asked for three months to prepare for the General Election.
But the Commission maintained that the elections would go on as planned and asked Opposition parties to either accept the new roadmap announced on Tuesday or push for last-minute constitutional amendments to the current electoral laws.
Under the revised EC roadmap, political parties were given one month to organise their internal elections (primaries).

Mr Sam Rwakoojo, the secretary to the Commission, in an interview yesterday, asked political parties to move with speed and prepare for the elections.
He also reminded those calling for consultations that there was a roadmap issued before the lockdown and, therefore, no need for further consultations on the same.
EC’s position
He quoted specific constitutional provisions and explained that they only adjusted the timelines after the initial plan was disrupted by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in March .
“The law is very clear and the timelines in our plan are provided by the law,” Mr Rwakoojo said.

“The law says if you want to stand for Parliament, you must resign 90 days before nomination so that will not change. The law also says the elections must be conducted in the last 120 days of the existing term of office of the government.”
The ruling National Resistance Movement Organisation (NRM(O), however, accepted the revised roadmap and immediately convened a closed-door meeting at State House to review their plan for primaries.
The party leaders discussed the budget for primaries and how voters will line behind preferred candidates without violating the requirement for social distancing.
Opposition leaders who talked to Daily Monitor yesterday and on Tuesday said the Commission only consulted the President who has already declared his intention to contest for the sixth elective term in office, a claim Mr Rwakoojo denied.

Impending court battles
Already, different options are being considered by the various Opposition political actors.
Mr Joseph Kabuleta, a concerned citizen, yesterday issued two days ultimatum to the EC to convene an urgent meeting with all the stakeholders or face the legal consequences.
Mr Kabuleta in a June 17 letter through Walyemera and Company Advocates, accuses the EC of acting in contravention of all the laws and violation of the rights of Ugandans.

“The revised roadmap, in the guise of observing Covid-19 public health guidelines, not only threatens but violates the citizens’ fundamental constitutional rights to vote, to elect their leaders and also to participate in public affairs,” he said.
“As an electoral management body that is interested in holding free and fair general elections, you ought to have sufficient consultation with all key stakeholder before you roll out this “scientific” revised roadmap...” the letter to EC reads in part.

Opposition weigh in
Without disclosing the next move in the event EC refuses to adjust, the chairman of Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Mr Wasswa Birigwa, advised that if EC wants all political parties to participate in the forthcoming elections they should consult them and forge a way forward.
“None of us has conducted a scientific election before and we do not know how it is conducted,” Mr Birigwa said.
He added: “If EC doesn’t want to invite us for consultation, they should just declare Mr Museveni as the winner instead of wasting taxpayers’ money.”
Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, the leader of People Power pressure group, also dismissed the revised roadmap as a mockery and reiterated that the alleged roadmap is a reflection of wishes and desires of President Museveni.

“In the most ridiculous fashion, the Commission has released a revised roadmap for the 2021 General Election; which roadmap violates every aspect of a free and fair election, envisaged under Article 1(4) of the Constitution of Uganda,” Mr Kyagulanyi said in a Facebook post yesterday.
He added: “We, therefore, reject the concept of a ‘scientific election’ with the contempt it deserves. What the Electoral Commission just declared is in fact not an election, but a mockery. Section 20 of the Parliamentary Elections Act, 2005 as well as Section 21 of the Presidential Elections Act, 2005 both envisage holding public campaign meetings across the country.”

Article 77(4) of the Constitution provides that where circumstances exist which would prevent a normal general election from being held, Parliament may, by resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of all members of Parliament, extend the life of Parliament for a period not exceeding six months at a time.
Ms Alice Alaso, one of the coordinators of Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu’s Alliance for National Transformation (ANT), said: “Those constitutions have the mandatory time notices of one or two months. You don’t just wake up one morning and say by July 21 we must have done all our party primaries, you don’t even give us a month. You want us to break our own constitutions we are custodians of?”
She clarified that they are not asking the Commission to postpone the elections, but adjust the timelines to allow parties to hold their primaries.

Legal issues
Mr Asuman Basalirwa, the chairperson of the Inter-party Organisation for Democracy, and also the chairman of Jeema, said: “Do we really need to go through this election during this pandemic when everyone is not prepared? Neither the EC nor the public are prepared for this election. “
“The issues we raise are legal and constitutional in nature and they are therefore not negotiable. What we are demanding is that the EC should explain the legal framework under which the roadmap was availed to the country. In the absence of this, the roadmap will be challenged,” he added.

The general secretary of the Democratic Party, Mr Gerald Siranda, said: “
We think that EC should design a mechanism to allow us meet few people during our campaign as opposed to using media which is very expensive. This is very possible and as political parties, we can regulate this. The EC cannot dictate for us on when we should hold our primaries. How can you give us only 29 days to identify our candidates.”