The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Partners for Democracy and Governance Group (PDG) have called for peaceful and credible elections.
In a statement issued on Friday, the PDG which comprises of ambassadors from France, Denmark, Iceland, Canada, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States of America (USA), urged all parties to work for an election process that is peaceful and credible to reinforce international confidence in Uganda.
The statement from the development partners comes at a time when there are heightened political tensions and fears of electoral violence.
The ambassadors note that a democratic state requires free and vibrant media and civil society with a level playing field underpinned by rights to freedom of assembly and expression.
“All democratic nations must support an electoral process free from all acts of intimidation, arrests, and targeting of journalists and civil society” the statement reads.
They have also called on all parties to work on rejecting violence, hate speech and inflammatory statements.
“Moreover the Ugandan government should ensure law enforcement and security agencies exercise restraint when safeguarding the security of all citizens including electoral candidates and all their supporters in line with national laws, Uganda’s international human rights commitments, and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance while at the same time ensuring the protection of democracy and robustness of institutions and the rule of law” the statement reads.
They have also called for all parties and Ugandans to ensure that there is the implementation of the COVID-19 standard operating procedures, adding that exercising democratic rights goes hand in hand with protecting the health and well being of the people.
The partners say that this is a moment of great significance and another important step in Uganda’s Democratic process.
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