Police warn against planned multiparty meeting

A Ugandan police spokesman has warned the public against attending an opposition political rally planned to coincide with 26 January celebrations to mark the anniversary in power of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), The New Vision government-owned newspaper reported on Friday. "Article 269 [of the Ugandan constitution] is very clear. We are not going to change our position, and members of the public should not risk [attendance]," paper quoted the spokesman, Asuman Mugenyi, as saying. "The rally is illegal," the paper on Thursday quoted Information Minister Basoga Nsadhu as saying. Rubaga South MP and the opposition Conservative Party (CP) Secretary-General, Ken Lukyamuzi, has said his party intends to go ahead with plans for a "consultative meeting of multipartyists" on 26 January, the same day on which Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's NRM will celebrate its 16th year in power, according to local news reports. Museveni seized power in Uganda on 29 January 1986 and was subsequently elected president in 1996 and again in March 2001. The proposed rally is being seen as a "direct challenge" to the NRM, according to Livingstone Sewanyana, Executive Director of the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative, based in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. "It would be a big issue if they succeeded," he said. "These rallies are really just the opposition trying to challenge the status quo. Of course, the government will try to stop it." Lukyamuzi has said the proposed gathering is not a political event, but a "consultative rally" to enable him to consult with his constituents in Rubaga South, Kampala, on proposals for multipartyism. Long-running controversy surrounding political rallies was brought into focus on Saturday, 12 January, when a trainee journalist was shot dead in Kampala after police opened fire to disperse a crowd gathering for a banned rally organised by the opposition Uganda People's Congress (UPC) party. Amnesty International on Tuesday expressed concern at the "apparent use of excessive force" by police in stopping the UPC rally. "The use of live ammunition by the police signals an apparent disregard for the lives of people who were to participate in a rally, and was contrary to earlier statements made by the police with regard to the planned rally," the human rights organisation said in a statement. Museveni suggested at a press conference in Kampala on Tuesday 15 January that he was thinking of banning the UPC, the independent Monitor newspaper reported. Sewanyana told IRIN that such a move by Museveni would violate the Ugandan constitution (adopted in October 1995). "There is no way he can do that without invalidating his own constitution." Although the Ugandan constitution permits the existence of political parties, their activities are restricted under the "Movement" system of government, and they are not allowed to campaign in elections or form groupings in parliament. Critics of Museveni's government have described the rule of the NRM as a disguise for a single-party system. Sewanyana said that, despite such restrictions, he expected to see continued opposition to the Movement system among politicians and ordinary Ugandans. "There is a feeling among Ugandans that there is a big need for reform," he said. According to Sewanyana, clashes over political rallies stem from conflict between different parts of the constitution. "Whereas Article 29 provides for freedom of assembly, Article 269 forbids political parties from holding rallies," he said. "This means that the UPC is legally entitled to hold rallies, but also means that the government can legally ban them." A Constitutional Review Commission established during presidential elections in March 2001 is expected to make a final report before the end of this year, including recommendations on the benefits or otherwise of multiparty politics compared with the Movement system. However, the Commission has been "bogged down" by lack of funds, according to Sewanyana. "Some people feel the Commission is likely just to rubber-stamp Museveni's views," he added.