The Alliance for National Transformation has said they are ready for a coalition with all opposition political parties but on condition.
Addressing journalists at their headquarters along Buganda Road in Kampala, the party’s spokesperson, Wilberforce Sseryazi said they have engaged all political parties in regards the matter.
“Aware of previous attempts to form a coalition, we wish to communicate to all change seeking political actors that the strength of any coalition depends on the strength and stability of the individual components,”Sseryazi told journalists on Tuesday.
“The cooperation also depends on the stability of the different political parties.”
Citing The Democratic Alliance, Sseryazi said it would be a waste of time for opposition political parties to form a collation when some of them still have squabbles within themselves.
“During the TDA, Democratic Party joined the coalition but a section of its members broke off and formed the Truth and Justice that was opposed to the alliance,” the ANT spokesperson said, noting that all parties must be ready to fully commit themselves to the coalition if it is to work.
In the run to the 2016 polls, the opposition came together in a bid to pool efforts to oust President Museveni but the move never materialized when they failed to agree on the way forward.
Despite a section of the majority of TDA members endorsing former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi as the flag bearer, the deal collapsed as other members including Forum for Democratic Change’s Dr.Kizza Besigye walked out on the coalition.
The TDA later collapsed and saw both Mbabazi and Besigye stand on their own in the resultant presidential elections where they lost to the incumbent.
Many have since said that mistrust among the members greatly contributed to the collapse of the opposition coalition in 2015.
However, according to the Alliance for National Transformation, there must be trust among the various parties to the coalition.
“The most important issue for this kind of cooperation is trust among the various political organizations,”Sseryazi said, urging the various opposition political parties to build internal capabilities that would ensure trust from both within themselves and other political players.
Joint candidate
The most contentious issue in regards the opposition coalition has been the joint candidate to battle with the ruling NRM party and the incumbent during the forthcoming polls.
Many have always wondered who and how the joint candidate will be reached and whether everyone in the coalition will agree with to rally behind the candidate
However, Sseryazi said the issue of a joint candidate is secondary, as the main issue is working on internal party divisions and trust.
“That(joint candidate) is a secondary issue. We can discuss it when the right time comes because we can even decide to front two or three candidates depending on the situation. We can even decide not to pick a candidate from the party presidents but get a civil servant to stand as our joint candidate against President Museveni,”the Alliance for National Transformation party spokesperson said.
