Cracks Emerge in DP Coalition over Party Flag Bearers in 2021 Polls

Ahead of 2021 general elections, members of the Democratic Party (DP) bloc have disagreed over the composition of the National Executive Committee that will decide on the road map for the 2021 election.

DP bloc is a coalition of three opposition parties; Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Peoples Development Party and DP that were formed to galvanize support ahead of the 2021 general elections.

On Tuesday, however, DP President Norbert Mao told journalists that the party’s National Executive Committee, which will sit to decide on the national delegates conference, has the right to decide on who will stand for any seat in the 2021 election on the party ticket.

Mao urged those from other political parties who are members of the bloc like SDP and PDP to apply for a waiver so that they can become candidates on the DP party ticket.

“We put our call to those who may not qualify to be candidates, for instance if you have joined DP and you have not been in DP for more than three years, you are supposed to get permission from the NEC to allow you to stand. There are some people who are part of the DP bloc and assuming they are DP members, the DP bloc members are not individuals, instead are political parties, so the bloc is not composed of individual members,” he said.

However, SDP President Michael Mabiike said that as principals of the bloc, they are above that step of applying for a waiver because DP endorsed the MOU of the bloc without any query.

“The parliament of the DP party which is the NEC received and adopted wholly the MOU without any amendment and all members were admitted as DP members so there is no need of applying for a waiver,” he said.

Lubega Mukaku, one of the principals in the DP bloc, said Mr. Mao has no right to decide for the bloc ahead of 2021 elections because he has also failed to organise the DP’s national delegates’ conference to have new leadership.

“Mr. Mao as a party president and other leaders he is working with, should not use the circumstances now as a cover up for his dealings with the state to cripple DP, whatever the foundation was laid on had regained  its concrete foundation as a resilient party of potential leaders,” he said.