Ugandans relieved at calm poll

By Will Ross
BBC News, Kampala

Museveni has been in power for 20 years

The number one hope among Ugandans, following the election, is for peace and stability.

For that reason, many who feel President Yoweri Museveni has been in power for far too long say that, given the circumstances, this was the best result for the country right now.

Everybody knew it would be a two-horse race but the votes gained by the "also ran" candidates were extraordinarily low.

These three candidates fared so badly that the bronze medal position went to the invalid votes which numbered close to 300,000.

Even if you add together the three minnows' tallies, they fall well short of the invalid vote total.

President Museveni's victory has not come as a great surprise.

Do not be surprised if it is a 67-year-old Museveni versus AN Other running in 2011 elections

His 59% is 10 points down on his 2001 performance and will be viewed as a sign of growing dissatisfaction with the Ugandan leader.

For the president's press secretary, Onapito Ekomoloit, the result was an endorsement of his 20 years in office.

"The Ugandans have vindicated what the president and those who work with him and support him have been saying; that the president still enjoys substantial support in the country," he told the BBC as Museveni supporters started celebrating the victory.

Commenting on Mr Museveni's 10% drop on the 2001 result, Onapito Ekomoloit said the president had suffered what he described as "incumbency attrition".

"He has done a lot but the people are sending him a message that he must do much more and it's a wake-up call to the [governing National Resistance Movement] NRM ."

Deja vu

There was a regional split largely because of the 20-year conflict in northern Uganda.

Mr Museveni was trounced in war-affected areas like Gulu District where Dr Kizza Besigye gained over 80% of the vote.

Kizza Besigye alleges election fraud

But in several districts of west Uganda, Mr Museveni secured over 80% and even broke the 90% mark in two districts.

Sitting in Dr Besigye's garden shortly after Yoweri Museveni had been declared the winner, there was a sense of deja vu for some of the journalists as his Forum For Democratic Change Party (FDC) rejected the result.

Five years earlier the same two candidates fought it out and following defeat, Dr Besigye went to court.

Dr Besigye said there had been irregularities during the campaign period, the voting and the tallying of the votes.

He complained of being illegally-detained in prison during the campaign period and of the use of the military to intimidate voters.

He also accused the media of bias, and said the government media served to promote Mr Museveni and undermine the opposition.

Dr Besigye claimed the Electoral Commission had acted illegally by declaring results which he said had not been sent in on the official tally sheets from around the country.

"We therefore consider the result announced by the election commission to be outrageous," concluded Dr Besigye.

He said he was not surprised because he maintained the Electoral Commission had not acted independently during last year's referendum.

With some expressing concern over how his supporters would react to defeat, the FDC leader called on them to remain calm adding that they should reject the result.

Sense of relief

Some voters chose to re-elect Yoweri Museveni because of the fear of the unknown.

During campaigns, Mr Museveni had given the impression that only he could control the military. Although he may have been referring to the fact that former President Milton Obote was twice overthrown by the army, the message sowed some seeds of doubt in the electorate.

Opposition supporters clashed with police following the result

Just a few days before the election, President Museveni said he would return to his cattle farm if the people voted him out.

Despite this, people questioned whether he would have been willing to leave power.

Had Dr Besigye looked like winning this election, the worst case scenario would have been a split in the military with one side backing Museveni staying in power, the other respecting the constitution and being loyal to a new president.

Most observers have said the voting day itself went reasonably well.

However, there was criticism of the campaign period, with the European Union team saying there was no level playing field.

The Commonwealth observer group also expressed concern about names which had been deleted from the electoral register.

Although the election result is being disputed, for many Ugandans there is a sense of relief that the exercise has, so far, passed off relatively peaceful.

Kampala and other parts of Uganda were tense prior to the election with businesses closing for several days due to the fear of violence.

Having only been reintroduced a few months ago, multi-party politics is in the crawling stage of its life.

Now the parties will have to reorganise in order to take on Mr Museveni's ruling NRM in 2011.

Do not be surprised if it is a 67-year-old Yoweri Museveni versus AN Other.