KAMPALA: Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Saturday sought nomination for a seventh term, a move that would bring him closer to five decades in power.
Museveni, 80, has defied calls for his retirement, as critics warn that he as veered into authoritarianism with virtually no opposition even within his ruling National Resistance Movement party.
He was welcomed by a large crowd of supporters as he went to collect nomination papers from the offices of the ruling party in Kampala, the Ugandan capital.
Museveni first took power as head of a rebel force in 1986. He has since been elected six times, though recent elections have been marred by violence and allegations of vote rigging. His main opponent in the last election was the popular entertainer known as Bobi Wine, who has also declared his candidacy in the polls set for January 2026.
Wine, whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, has seen many associates jailed or go into hiding as security forces cracked down on opposition supporters.
Museveni has dismissed Wine as “an agent of foreign interests” who cannot be trusted with power. Wine has been arrested many times on various charges but has never been convicted. He insists he is running a nonviolent campaign.
Decades ago, Museveni himself had criticized African leaders who overstayed their welcome in office. In Uganda, lawmakers did the same thing for him when they jettisoned the last constitutional obstacle — age limits — for a possible life presidency. His son, army chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has asserted his wish to succeed his father, raising fears of hereditary rule.
A long-time opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, has been jailed since November over alleged treason charges his lawyers say are politically motivated. Besigye, a physician who retired from Uganda’s military at the rank of colonel, is a former president of the Forum for Democratic Change party, for many years Uganda’s most prominent opposition group.
The East African country has never seen a peaceful transfer of power since independence from Britain in 1962.
Uganda’s president seeks a seventh term that would bring him closer to 5 decades in power
https://arab.news/nhepa
Uganda’s president seeks a seventh term that would bring him closer to 5 decades in power
- Museveni first took power as head of a rebel force in 1986, he has been elected six times, though recent elections have been marred by violence and allegations of vote rigging
German poll candidate under fire over schoolgirl comments
- Hagel mentioned one girl in particular who stuck in his mind
- The video has provoked a backlash, with Greens MP Zoe Mayer and other critics accusing Hagel of sexism
BERLIN: A politician from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s center-right party has come under fire during a local election campaign after a video resurfaced of him making comments about schoolgirls.
Manuel Hagel, 37, is the CDU’s top candidate for regional elections in the prosperous southwestern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg on March 8.
In the video from 2018, Hagel can be seen talking enthusiastically about a visit to a secondary school class in his constituency where 80 percent of the pupils were girls.
“There are worse places for a 29-year-old MP to be,” he grins.
He then mentions one girl in particular who stuck in his mind, noting her “brown hair” and “hazel eyes.”
The video has provoked a backlash, with Greens MP Zoe Mayer and other critics accusing Hagel of sexism.
“What signal does this send to young women who want to get involved in politics?” Mayer said in a clip on Instagram about the video.
During a TV debate aired by the ARD broadcaster on Tuesday, Hagel said he regretted his “stupid mistake,” adding that his wife had “given him a real dressing down” over the comments.
For the past five years, the state government in Baden-Wuerttemberg has been led by the Greens in coalition with the CDU.
However, the CDU is currently leading the polls and looks set to head the next government — possibly in collaboration with the Greens again.
Markus Frohnmaier, the top candidate for the far-right AfD, seized on the video to harangue the Green party candidate about whether he would team up with Hagel during the TV debate.
“Can you still envisage cooperation with the CDU in Baden-Wuerttemberg in this context?” Frohnmaier asked the Greens’ Cem Ozdemir.
The latest polls show the CDU with around 28-percent support in Baden-Wuerttemberg, with the Greens on 22 percent and the AfD on 20 percent.
