Ugandan Oppositions Pick Besigye For 2011

Ugandan Oppositions Pick Besigye For 2011

A coalition of Ugandan opposition parties has elected a twice-defeated retired colonel, Kizza Besigye, as its flag bearer to run against President Yoweri Museveni in next year's election.

Five opposition parties formed the Inter-Party Cooperation in July 2008 and agreed to field a joint presidential candidate against Museveni who has held power in Uganda since 1986.

The Uganda People's Congress, pulled out of the coalition on Monday in a disagreement over a demand to replace the Electoral Commission.

‘Dwindling votes'

Besigye, after his nomination, said that in spite of the very challenging conditions under which all elections were held in the past, his party's share of the vote has been rising while that of Museveni and his National Resistance Movement (NRM) has been dwindling fast.

Earlier on Saturday, President Museveni announced that he was seeking re-election and that he expects his NRM party to officially pick him as its candidate in mid September.

REUTERS/Yinka