KAMPALA- Opposition political parties have issued preconditions for the national dialogue being championed by the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) to resolve the country’s political impasse.
The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) delegation led by party president Patrick Oboi Amuriat said they have submitted preconditions for the talks to IRCU to review before setting any date for the dialogue.
The national dialogue has been tentatively planned for the end of this month, with several stakeholders expected to attend.
Mr Amuriat told the media after their closed-door meeting with IRCU that they had impressed it on the faith-based organisation that they will not go for any dialogue unless IRCU changes the moderator and chooses an independent and impartial umpire for the talks.
“We have had several discussions with the officials at IRCU and the Elders Forum on reviewing our framework but all in vain. If they include what we have demanded, we shall make our final decision to join the dialogue or not,” Mr Amuriat told the journalists on Thursday.
Mr Amuriat said: “We have also asked IRCU to first consult President Museveni who is key in this dialogue and get his side of conditions and demands before consulting other political parties.”
On his part, Justice James Ogoola from the Elders Forum, said they would look into the demands of FDC, stressing that this will be balanced against input from other political parties.
Democratic Party (DP) secretary general Gerald Siranda said: “Dialogue is the only platform for the healing of Uganda because even in other countries where there has been crisis, dialogue has resolved disasters.”
Daily Monitor
