The four-time presidential candidate, Dr. Kizza Besigye, yesterday attracted ululations from supporters when he announced that the Opposition was in talks about fielding a joint presidential candidate for the 2021 elections.
“We are definitely talking among ourselves as activists for change on how to manage candidates in the next elections. We think that we should have a unified candidate, and we are working towards that,” Besigye said.
He made the remarks in his end of year brief to the media in the presence of several of his supporters and members of his self-inaugurated “People’s Government” executive at his home in Kasangati, in Wakiso district yesterday.
The Democratic Party (DP) and some opposition activists have been pursuing efforts to put together an opposition coalition. It has suggested a joint opposition campaign strategy: “one on one model.”
However, they have since questioned the commitment of the main opposition party, Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) and Besigye to the idea of an opposition coalition. However, recently the DP president, Nobert Mao, decried the lack of commitment by some opposition players to the cause of working together to achieve regime change.
Recently, the People Power pressure group head, Robert Kyagulanyi, also confirmed talks with Besigye and other opposition players on the possibility of putting together a coalition.
However, Besigye in his address said: “The reason we even talk about unified candidates, is because we do not have free and fair elections. If there were free and fair elections, there would be no need to have a common candidate, every candidate can stand.”
He said the people’s government, has no plans of participating in the next elections. “But our role is to simply steer the struggle for regime change forward,” Besigye said.
The clarification came shortly after the Mukono Municipality MP, Betty Nambooze, said: “People in the “people’s government” will go back to their parties and contest in elections. I will never stand behind Besigye during elections as long as he is still FDC. I am a DP.”
Responding to critics over his recent remarks that he will continue pushing for change, he said: “Nobody will struggle on my behalf. I have to join all the others to struggle together.”
On the campaign to drag President Museveni and other government officials to the International Criminal Court over alleged crimes against humanity, Besigye said: “It was going on well. We had a target of two million signatures, we are now collecting bonus.” Besigye wants joint opposition candidate