The race to the 2021 general election has begun taking shape with three major opposition politicians starting talks over who should be their joint presidential candidate under the banner of the People Power movement.
The Democratic Party (DP) mouthpiece, Kenneth Kakande, yesterday said their president general, Norbert Mao, is currently in discussions with Kyadondo East Member of Parliament Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine and former Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) boss Gen. Mugisha Muntu, over a joint candidature.
Muntu is in advanced stages of launching his own party, the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT), after it was given the green light by the Electoral Commission.
“Whereas the divisive voices in our ranks threaten to derail us from our earlier resolve to work in unison, we wish to assure DP and, indeed, Ugandans that we shall remain committed to working together, first under the DP bloc and second under the People Power fraternity until we restore democratic order and a just socioeconomic dispensation in our country,” Kakande said during a news conference yesterday.
“There is no cause for alarm should there be more than one leader wishing to carry the flag for the People Power fraternity at the presidential level, but an amicable agreement will be reached to have one candidate.” Kakande said
Kyagulanyi, Muntu and Mao were discussing the possibilities of forging a common platform to face President Yoweri Museveni of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) as one united front.
The DP bloc, consisting of Social Democratic Party (SDP) and People’s Development Party, proposed an opposition election campaign strategy for 2021, dubbed “one to one model”.
They say that on top of fielding a joint presidential candidate, opposition political parties should field candidates in the parliamentary and local council elections as well basing on each party’s strength in the region.