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Subject: Government Does Not Want to Talk - UPC


Regional News 
Monday, March 29, 2004  
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Government  Does Not Want to Talk - UPC
By DAVID KAIZA 
THE EASTAFRICAN 
THE CHAIRMAN of the Uganda People's Congress presidential policy commission says the militant attitude that the government has adopted towards the opposition shows that the Movement is not interested in a "smooth transition" to a multiparty system. 

Dr James Rwanyarare was referring to the increased use of physical violence by the state to break up opposition meetings, a situation that has halted talks between the government and the banned opposition.  

In one such incident, Members of Parliament who had convened a meeting of the Parliamentary Action Forum (PAFO) in Jinja were beaten up on February 25 by a gang allegedly hired by government officials. 

"We are having to dwell on the thin opportunity that the government may still be interested in a smooth transition," Dr Rwanyarare told The EastAfrican. "But I don't think they are." 

He also warned of dire consequences if the government continued to employ physical violence to break up opposition meetings. 

"If the government uses violence against our members, we shall answer appropriately," he said.  

He did not specify what form the "answer" would take. 

However, other opposition groups such as the Uganda Young Democrats, the youth wing of the Democratic Party, who were also attacked in Jinja by mobs allegedly organised by government officials, have said that if the attacks against them continued, they would also use violence to retaliate.  

Dr Rwanyarare said that he was withdrawing the Uganda Peoples' Congress representatives from the 14-man group meeting the Movement delegates. But he said that this did not mean that the UPC was withdrawing from the "G7" opposition grouping. 

The spokesman of the Democratic Party, Jude Mbabali, said a transition to multiparty politics could not be effected when laws like the Police Act and Movement Act, which block the activities of the opposition, were still in place. 

Under these laws, rallies and meetings can be broken up by the state. The list of demands that the opposition handed over to the government in 2003 when they proposed dialogue asked that these laws be removed or modified to clear the way for political pluralism. 

Other demands by the opposition included the freeing of political prisoners, stopping of politico-military courses known as "Mchakamchaka",  redefining of the roles of Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) and  redefining of the role of the Movement Secretariat.  

When the government first met the opposition on January 15, the expectation had been that the talks would take only a month. 

There had also been expectations that these preliminary talks would lead to a larger national dialogue drawing in as many interest groups as possible, including the Lord's Resistance Army and the Allied Democratic Forces, who are engaged in armed struggle against the state. 

The opposition want the talks concluded well before the 2006 elections, to give them the time to reach out to their supporters across the country. 

"The government is very reluctant to continue with the talks," Mr Mbabali told The EastAfrican. "They wanted to convince donors that there was a transition going on so they called for talks. But the laws are all still as they have been under the Movement." 

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