We shall bring down NRM regime this year - Amuriat

The Opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party has said they will remove President Museveni’s regime before the year ends.
“As a party we will continue to struggle to ensure that we bring change even before elections and so we have agreed with other forces of change that it is critical that even as we prepare for elections we also do things that will bring the regime down before the nominations in August this year.

“As we do this, we are also concerned that even if the process of elections has started in earnest, we don’t see the regime going in the direction of causing electoral reforms,” said party president Patrick Amuriat during a press briefing at the FDC headquarters in Najjanankumbi yesterday.

This is not the first time FDC is vowing to remove President Museveni’s regime before his elective term ends. Former FDC party president and four-time presidential candidate Dr Kizza Besigye has on two occasions promised to bring down the NRM regime.

In 2011, Dr Besigye promised a “Tsunami” that would sweep away President Museveni and his government before the next election and repeated a similar threat in 2016 elections.

However, Mr Amuriat yesterday said FDC will cause a regime change because Mr Museveni’s government has for long ignored the call to have electoral reforms because he wants to cling onto power.

“Unfortunately because Mr Museveni would like to remain the only bull in the kraal, he has chosen to keep the laws in his back pocket,” Mr Amuriat said.

“And so we foresee an election where Museveni is going to preside over, where he himself is going to be a candidate. This is not going to be acceptable. We are going to begin activities again, not only just to call for electoral reforms but to force the regime to adopt what Ugandans are saying,” he said.

He also said his party will ensure that the Electoral Commission does not organise a ‘sham’ election.
“FDC is not going to accept a sham election another time and it falls on us and every Ugandan who believes in what we are saying to push for electoral reforms,” Mr Amuriat said.

“I would like to call upon all the religious institutions, Civil Society Organisations (CSO), political partners and all of Ugandans to join this crusade before any issues relating elections begin. We are aware of the fact that the Electoral Commission has rolled out a roadmap but it does not really matter to us. That roadmap is just hot air if it is not buttressed by electoral reforms. So electoral reforms is a must in our context as FDC,” Mr Amuriat said.

He said people are taking advantage of FDC’s slow process of embarking on selecting a presidential candidate.

Presidential candidate
However, as the FDC party president was addressing journalists, one of its members and former party presidential candidate who lost to Amuriat in 2017, Mr Moses Byamugisha was declaring interest to contest for the country’s presidency.

Mr Byamugisha, in his address to journalists in Kampala yesterday, said he had presented his presidential bid because FDC is slow in choosing its flag bearer for 2021.

“I came out because the FDC has not come out to start the process of agreeing on a [presidential] candidate,” Mr Byamugisha said.
“I am not opposing my party position but when I looked at what my party is being subjected to by the government, it was unfair and I decided to come out. For instance they [FDC officials] get plucked out of radio stations,” he added.

However he did not say how he will stop government from pulling him off the airwaves.
“I came out because the situation demands that we change tactics. So this is a strategy for me to come out and eventually come through,” Mr Byamugisha said.

The FDC distanced itself from Mr Byamugisha and said he does not represent the party’s presidential ambitions.

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