Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has scoffed at its critics, saying that the FDC’s priority is to take over power and not uniting with other political parties to form a strong opposition.
This was revealed by the party Deputy Secretary General, Harold Kaija while addressing the media in a party’s weekly press conference at the Najjanankumbi headquarters.
Kaija said that all party leaders were voted in by delegates to work towards building a strong party that would take over power and not a strong opposition with no focus.
“I was voted by my people as the Deputy Secretary General to organize the party so as to take power and that is our cardinal role. There are people whose DNA, thinking and planning is opposition,” Kaija said.
Kaija observed that other opposition parties have now resorted to uniting against FDC warning that their efforts won’t succeed.
“What they are doing now is to hit at FDC but we are welcoming them. They have been around and no one has been hired from the US, UK or Kenya, let’s see what they can do”.
“This is a market place; we shall keep on track and focusing ourselves, we shall not have sleepless nights over them. If they want to come, let them, if they don’t let them not”.
His concerns come days after a reunion of the Uganda Young Democrats (UYD) the youth league of the Democratic Party where former Presidential candidate, Dr Abed Bwanika lambasted DP leaders for continuously rallying behind FDC’s Dr Kizza Besigye.
It also follows claims by opposition party Justice Forum (JEEMA) that FDC has frustrated joint efforts to have the two opposition parties, field a single candidate in the forthcoming Bugiri municipality MP elections. This has sparked a debate on how better the opposition as a bloc has position itself to win over the ruling NRM.
But Kaija says that FDC is concerned more with taking power rather than uniting the opposition.
“That is why when you see us planning, you see a party that is in government. We have the arm that works as Cabinet, a Secretariat and the arm that is in Parliament to make sure that what we do is aimed at taking over government.”
He added, “These people that are bickering only want to come and associate with us so that when we eventually win, they appear as though we fought together”.
Kaija stated that the people attacking FDC today are the same people that offered no support to the party either in 2016 and 2006.
“Talking about opposition unity, this whole weekend, I have been trying to study on different case studies in different countries, I have not seen any country where there was liberation when all people that want to change the status quo are in the same boat.”