Opposition parties to field one candidate against Museveni

Opposition parties in Uganda have announced that they will field one candidate to face President Yoweri Museveni in the 2001 polls. The semi-official ‘New Vision’ daily reported that party leaders and representatives held a meeting on Monday and afterwards announced that they would agree on a joint candidate. However, no name was put forward. “If the NRM does not rig it, we are confident we will defeat them badly,” said Karuhanga Chaapa, one of the party leaders. In the 1996 presidential election the main political parties fielded one candidate, but were defeated by President Yoweri Museveni who gained 75 percent of the votes. In July this year Uganda will hold a referendum to determine whether the country reverts to a multi-party system or remains under the no-party movement system.