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UGANDA: EU OBSERVERS SAY CONCLUDED ELECTIONS WERE FREE AND FAIR February 25, 2006
Apunyu Bonny
(SomaliNet) Contrary to claims by the main opposition political party, Forum For Democratic Change(FDC), that the just concluded elections were characterized by rigging and intimidation of voters.
The head of the EU election observer mission to Uganda max Van Den berg says the just concluded presidential and parliamentary elections were free and fair.
Max Van Den while addressing their first press conference after the elections, noted that despite some of the problems, the first multi party elections in 26 years have demonstrated significant improvement compared to the 2001 elections.
According to Max, there was a significant improvement in the voter turn out which he said reflects that Ugandans had a choice to choose between change and continuity.
He however said that the observer team had noted with concern, that their was no equal opportunity to state resources by all presidential candidates. He noted that the incumbent president Yoweri Museveni had more coverage on the electronic media compared to the other candidates.
Ugandas' new parliament,was called upon by Max to consider revising the constitution to reinstate presidential term limits so that the path to Uganda’s democratic process is well streamlined. He however said that the decision to retain or change the term limits should lie entirely on the parliament, and the civil society.