The chairman of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Saddam Gayira, has blamed the opposition’s poor performance in the recent elections on disunity, infighting and public bickering among rival leaders.
Gayira, a teacher-turned-politician, told Bbeg Media in an interview at his party headquarters in Bukoto that opposition leaders spent more time attacking each other than confronting the ruling establishment.
“If you fight each other and abuse one another, you cannot expect the masses to support you. People will automatically look for an alternative, and that alternative becomes the NRM,” Gayira said.
He said the opposition failed to learn from past mistakes and instead allowed internal conflicts to dominate the political space during the campaign period.
Gayira cited confrontations within opposition parties, pointing to tensions between the National Unity Platform (NUP), the Democratic Front of Mathias Mpuuga, as well as disputes involving the Forum for Democratic Change, and the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF).
“With such a background, the opposition lost focus and direction. We forgot our cardinal role of challenging dictatorship and misrule. That partly explains the low voter turnout during the elections,” he said.
The PPP leader described the recent electoral exercise as flawed, alleging widespread vote rigging and ballot stuffing, particularly in areas where his party had fielded candidates.
He said in Wakiso where there are about 1.6 million registered voters, less thsan 700,000 people cast their ballots.
He said: “This means the majority, who are opposition supporters, stayed away. Only the NRM turned up to vote, and that denied the opposition victory.”
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