Ugandans vote on governing system

KABALE (UGANDA), JUNE 30. Ugandans voted on Thursday in an unusual referendum on how they want to be governed, a question tied deeply to the violence of the nation's past and the popularity of the President, Mr. Yoweri Museveni, the man who has, in large measure, ended that violence.

Turnout among Uganda's 9.6 million voters appeared relatively light - which Mr. Museveni's opponents said showed the success of their call for a boycott.

But apart from trying to avoid the rain in many parts of Uganda, voters also may have stayed home because the election's result, in Mr. Museveni's favour, never seemed in doubt.

``I like Museveni very much,'' said Ms. Sugra Khan, 69, after casting her vote in a drizzle at a near-empty soccer field in this south-western town early Thursday morning. ``Now we have no problems. I am sleeping well.''

Ms. Khan said she cast her vote from her life: In the 1970s the dictator Idi Amin - responsible for as many as 500,000 deaths - expelled some 70,000 Ugandans of Asian descent, among them her own family.

The choice in the referendum was whether to return to a multi- party system or to continue the so-called ``Movement'' system favoured by Mr. Museveni, President since he won a five- year guerilla war in 1986.

Under the Movement, political parties are permitted in name only. Mr. Museveni's argument is that political parties have divided Ugandans by tribe and religion, allowing men like Amin and Milton Obote, whom Mr. Museveni overthrew, to take power.

The question echoes the debate about whether African nations - lacking a middle class that votes its economic interests rather than its tribal or religious ties - are politically mature enough for the same kind of democracy practiced by rich nations.

Mr. Museveni's opponents - supporters of a multi-party system - depict the Movement as a one-party State that he manipulates to stay in power. The Movement bans party conventions and rallies.

``It's a kind of dictatorship,'' said Mr. Nasser Sebaggala, the former Mayor of the capital, Kampala, who plans to run for President next year against Mr. Museveni. ``People want a change.'' Early on, opponents of Mr. Museveni called for a boycott of the election: They have mounted a legal challenge against the Parliamentary vote that established the referendum and say that, at any rate, the process is stacked against them.

Proponents of many parties were not permitted to appear on the ballot as separate parties or personalities but rather as an idea, while Mr. Museveni has been able to campaign as the public face of the Movement.

In an interview, Mr. Sebaggala said people boycotted the vote in huge numbers, though it was impossible to tell because the results will not be known until Saturday at the earliest.

By law, results must be released within 48 hours.

Officials on all sides say the results will be significant nonetheless, as an early indication for the more important elections next year for both the Parliament and the Presidency.

In the last Presidential elections, in 1996, Mr. Museveni won three-quarters of the vote, with about three- quarters of the electorate going to the polls. A similar result would give Mr. Museveni a boost into next year's elections, while his opponents are certain to capitalise on any weakening in his past high levels of support.

- New York Times

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Section  : International
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