New opposition pressure group was rushed, says DP

11
New opposition pressure group was rushed, says DP
New opposition pressure group was rushed, says DP

Africa-PressUganda. The Democratic Party (DP) has said that one of the reasons they did not join the newly formed Opposition Pressure group named People’s Front for Transition (PFT) was the ‘rush’ they used to unveil it.

Last week opposition leaders led by the former four-time presidential candidate Col (Rtd) Dr Kizza Besigye unveiled the new pressure group which they said aims at expanding the frontier in their struggle to oust President Museveni, who has been in power over three decades.

While addressing the media at their weekly press conference in Kampala on Tuesday, DP Spokesperson, Mr Opio Okoler, said that though they support unity, PFT was rather rushed and not given enough time before unveiling.

“We were reluctant to join efforts with Dr Besigye in his People’s Front pressure group because we believe that meaningful coalitions must not be built on flimsy grounds,” he said

Mr Okoler noted that there was need for exclusive consultations on how to work together as “change seekers” because there are many unresolved issues amongst themselves (opposition) that can only be sorted through an honest conversation.

“There was no need to rush, we should talk before merging efforts and build meaningful coalitions, DP believes that most of the time should be spent working on the process of unity than unity itself,” he said.

Mr Okoler added that having prior consultation would subsequently form a strong foundation anchored on principles and strong values.

“We are glad that, it is now evident that no body or a single group of individuals can do it alone therefore we should listen to each other and move forward in unison,” he stated.

Mr Okoler added that they missed an opportunity to work together in the just concluded election because some groups believed that Ugandans were already united and therefore saw no relevance in uniting.

“We need each other as change seekers and therefore we should break down and listen to ourselves honestly,” he said, noting that DP as the chief proponent and most consistent supporter of principled unity amongst change seekers strongly believes in working together.

While unveiling the pressure group last week, some opposition parties like the National Unity Platform (NUP) and DP were noticeably absent.

Dr Besigye said that the outfit, a replica of the post-2016 election People’s Government that he superintended, galvanises broader political actors willing to remove Mr Museveni by all means other than elections.

“We have tested all ways [to oust Museveni] and I am an expert [in this],” said Dr Besigye, a former personal physician to Mr Museveni, who stood for elections in 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016.

[email protected]

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here