Despite the fact that the Forum for Democratic Party has not forwarded a presidential candidate for the 2021 elections, the disgruntlement between party members, and the exit of many members from the party, Patrick Amuriat the party president maintains that there is no crisis.
In an interview with NTV Uganda, Amuriat said that the party leadership was prepared for such disagreements that started brewing after defeating RTD Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu, who now heads the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT)
“We got to know that there was a preparation by a section of our elected leaders to cause an exodus from the party. When we heard about that as a party we acted cleaver, we decided to engage, to impress upon them the importance of keeping within the fold and that engagement yielded a lot of goodwill from especially our Members of Parliament and therefore we nipped what was supposed to be an exodus in the bad,” Amuriat said.
The party has in the recent past registered massive departures by senior members. According to Amuriat, “General Muntu moved out with a number of members of parliament. We have fought a good fight to recover some of them and from 8 members of parliament who were loyal to my administration, today we have 25 sitting members of parliament who have picked and returned forms to run in the 2021 election. That is not a mere achievement, I have stabilized this party together with my colleagues.”
A number of FDC incumbent MPs have been refused to pick nomination forms from the party while others were barred from returning the forms by the party leadership. There have been recent accusations by prof. Morris Ogenga Latigo, a senior member of FDC blaming the current party leadership for the mess in the party, which has seen several senior party members quit the party.
According to FDC party Spokesman, Ibrahim Ssemujju, it’s the media that’s making the small issues appear as big issues while all remain moving steadily.
“FDC is and will remain the strongest political organization in Uganda, we beg the media for accuracy and fairness. Don’t light fire on FDC and report it as an outbreak,” Ssemujju noted.
