Ugandan general election, 2006
The presidential elections in Uganda found on 23 February 2006 simultaneously with the parliamentary elections. The winner of the election was at a turnout of 65.83 per cent of the 10,450,788 eligible voters, the previous incumbent, Yoweri Museveni of the National Resistance Movement, who received 59.28 percent of the vote, Kizza Besigye its competitors from the Forum for Democratic Change, the 37, received 36 percent, hit.
The elections were the first multiparty elections since 10 December 1980 and therefore the second ever in the history of Uganda, after the No parties or de facto one-party system, the National Resistance Movement allowed only political umbrella organization that had been abolished in 2005. In the 19,786 polling stations at the same time the 284 Members of Parliament were elected.
Five candidates were to choose to, in addition to the favorites and only candidate with real chances to win Yoweri Museveni and Kizza Besigye, these were Miria Obote (Uganda People's Congress), the widow of the late 2005 former President Milton Obote, Abed Bwanika ( unanbhängiger candidate) and John Ssebaana Kizito ( Democratic Party ).
The candidate Muhammad Kibirige Mayanja ( Justice Forum ) and Ken Lukyamuzi ( Conservative Party ) had withdrawn their candidacies before the election date. Also Haji Nasser Ntege Ssebagala of the Democratic Party had to register as an independent candidate, but soon attracted back his candidacy and declared his support for John Ssebaana Kizito.
Museveni could actually no longer compete because the Constitution provided for only two five -year terms for a president ( Museveni had ruled prior to his first official term of office for ten years as interim president ). Only a constitutional amendment, which he punched, the run again made it possible.
Museveni's main rival Besigye was arrested in a smear campaign on 14 November 2005 on charges of treason, supporting terrorist groups and rape. He was placed in January 2006 and is released and acquitted in February on charges of rape. Because of treason the proposed method was declared before a military court by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional.
Museveni was re-elected with 59.28 percent, Besigye received 37.36 percent of the vote. Kizito was 1.59 percent, 0.95 percent and Bwanika Obote gaining 0.82 percent of the vote.
Results
Criticism
The Ugandans were the presidential and parliamentary elections compared with mixed feelings, although were the first to apply multiple choice lists. Before the election, there was some unrest, so many fear a renewed civil war. EU election observers criticized the election as unfair because the returned until the end of 2005 from exile opposition leader Kizza Besigye was immediately alleged treason in court. Besigye criticized this as being politically motivated.
The "Forum for Democratic Change " spoke of election fraud, because the results differed widely from an independent count in 19,000 polling stations, and want President Museveni to contest the alleged election victory. This had let to change shortly before the election the constitution to allow a third term.
The simultaneous parliamentary election (284 deputies), however, would represent an advance if they should lead to the first democratic parliamentary debates.