**Uganda’s main opposition leader Kizza Besigye had told the BBC of his anger that proposed electoral reforms have not even been debated in parliament.**Dr Besigye was talking after being re-elected leader of his Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party.
He has warned that failure to implement reform could see Uganda experience violence at next year’s polls, similar to that seen in Kenya in 2007-8.
The FDC leader has twice been beaten by President Yoweri Museveni.
Dr Besigye used to be Mr Museveni’s personal doctor and the two men were allies in the guerrilla war which brought Mr Museveni to power in 1986 before they fell out.
In neighbouring Kenya, some 1,300 people died in the post-2007 poll clashes and tens of thousands were displaced in weeks of violence.
‘Not failed’
“We have presented to parliament a set of reforms which we believed would go a long way in creating an equitable environment for an election. Unfortunately those reforms have not been debated up to now,” he told the BBC’s Network Africa.
“I have not failed at all previously in defeating President Museveni - any election once it is judged as not being free or fair, you cannot talk about the outcome,” he said.
“In the last election, all seven judges in the Supreme Court made a categorical judgement that the election was not free or fair - they said the election was not conducted in accordance with the law.”
The BBC’s Joshua Mmali in the capital, Kampala, says the opposition wants the electoral commission to be disbanded and another set up with members of opposition parties included.
They also want a law forbidding the army from providing security on election day.
Our reporter says that Dr Besigye will not necessarily be standing for president in 2011, as several opposition parties have agreed to field one candidate.
After losing the 2002 poll, Dr Besigye fled Uganda, saying he feared for his life.
He returned before the 2006 election, but was not able to campaign properly as he was fighting treason and rape charges.
He was cleared of the rape, but the treason charges are still pending.
Earlier this week he was also questioned by police over accusations he had accused the government of selling one of Uganda’s lakes to private investors, and reports that he had called on his followers to break the thumbs of governing party supporters.
Dr Besigye said the allegations were part of a campaign of political persecution.This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.