Forum for Democratic Change president, Patrick Amuriat, has broken the silence about a group of party leaders who quit to join Maj.Gen.Mugisha Muntu’s ‘New Formation’.
A total of 63 leaders from the biggest opposition political party Forum for Democratic Change in Ankole region on Thursday announced crossing over to Gen.Mugisha Muntu’s New Formation.
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“We, the FDC leaders of Ankole sub-region gathered here, hereby inform members of the press and the general public that with effect from today 25 October 2018 have officially resigned our leadership positions in FDC party and have therefore ceased to be members of Forum for Democratic Change,” said the group in a joint press statement at a function held at Freedom Gardens in Mbarara town.
Speaking to journalists in Soroti on Saturday, Amuriat said the party is still looking carefully at the group because others had changed their minds and returned to the biggest opposition party only hours after announcing their exit.
“Until the party gets clarity on these officials, we cannot comment so much. That said, our party is free entry and free exit,”Amuriat said during his thanksgiving ceremony in Soroti on Saturday.
The FDC president said that despite leaving the biggest opposition party, any member is free to rejoin the party at any time and that if they feel the party is not performing up to their expectations, no one can stop them from exiting.
Asked to comment on claims that the party is being led along sectarian lines, Amuriat dismissed it as baseless aimed at derailing them.
“There is no way in which I would be moving with Dr.Besigye, Ingrid Turinawe, Francis Mwijukye and other leaders from the west if this party was taking a tribal direction. We are a national party that embraces every region of this country.”
Speaking to the press during their declaration of leaving the party, the group of FDC leaders explained they had not been coerced to leave the biggest opposition party but rather due to the divide between those supporting defiance championed by Dr.Kizza Besigye and Amuriat and those who are moderates like Muntu.
“As you are aware, during the 2017 party presidential elections, there emerged clear differences in strategies the party would follow in its bid to capture power. We joined FDC to build a strong party with credible values that would help us capture power and use it to transform the nation," they said.
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