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WANTS SEAT: Bidandi |
By Henry Mukasa
FORMER Local Government minister, Jaberi Bidandi Ssali has said he will stand for election as president if Parliament votes to retain Movement individual merit system.
The nation is expected to vote in a referendum whether to embrace multiparty democracy or retain the Movement system as proposed in the government White Paper on constitutional amendments.
�You vote that we retain individual merit in 2006, I will stand,� Bidandi said. �But we are moving towards pluralism,� he quickly added.
The ex-minister was speaking on Star FM on Saturday morning. He was answering a question from a caller who asked him why, with his good track record and expertise in politics, he doesn�t offer himself for election.
Bidandi said he cannot deny that President Yoweri Museveni�s leadership, at the time it came, was the only option for the unity of Uganda but added that he strongly opposes the amendment of the Constitution to hand
him a
third term.
�If he is in wrong, I cannot follow blindly. The Constitution says however good a person is, two terms for a president and now we are saying we change,� said Bidandi, who has been steadfast in his opposition to the third term.
�Once bitten twice shy. This is what happened in 1965 and 1966... amending the Constitution so that Obote stands. Even if there is no one who can overthrow this government by force of arms, the strife that might result will make governance difficult.�
Bidandi (above) said he respected Museveni and that�s why he did not join the Forum for Democratic Change. He, however, said he believes that NRM-O was bigger than Museveni.
�People should stop saying that Museveni has no successor. He is there. Who? The winning party will decide,� he said.
Bidandi said that the proposal by the government that Parliament deposes kings who breach the Constitution was outrageous. He advised those bothered by the provision
to be
calm and also criticised Justice Minister Janat Mukwaya for overreacting when accused of smuggling the issue into the White Paper.
�I was crucified when I said the Movement must become a political party but Kategaya and I never went wild. Mukwaya overreacted. Poor packaging is bad. She made it appear like it was her own proposal,� Bidandi said.
Published on: Sunday, 26th September, 2004 |
