A referendum on restoring multi-party politics was held in

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

on 28 July 2005. Political parties had been banned from competing in elections for nearly 20 years in order to curb sectarian tensions. President

Yoweri Museveni Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and Officer (armed forces), military officer who is the ninth and current president of Uganda since 1986. As of 2025, he is the third-List of current state lead ...

instituted the non-party "Movement" system of government when he came to power in 1986. A

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

was held in 2000, but the proposal was rejected by over 90% of voters. This time it was approved by over 90% of voters.

Background

The Ugandan Parliament voted to conduct the referendum on 4 May 2005. Enthusiasm for the poll was muted, however, as both the government and opposition supported a return to a multiparty system. Some political groupings, including the Forum for Democratic Change, boycotted the poll, claiming that it would legitimise 19 years of rule by an effective one-party state. President Museveni castigated the

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...

ers for "not contributing to the development of Uganda".Museveni castigates opposition boycotters
New Vision, 28 July 2005 Other observers suggested the $12.5m spent on the referendum might have been put to better use elsewhere in Uganda, one of the poorest countries in the world. The lengthy question presented to voters on their ballots was criticised for being confusing: "Do you agree to open up the political space to allow those who wish to join different organisations/parties to do so to compete for political power?" Symbols of a tree and a house accompanied the 'yes' and 'no' boxes, respectively, on the ballot. More than 90% of voters backed the return to multi-party politics. Some observers expressed surprise at the official figures given for voter turnout. Initial estimates indicated that less than 30% of Uganda's 8.5 million voters had turned out for the poll. The Electoral Commission, however, released an official figure of 47%. A low turnout would have been embarrassing for Museveni.

Results

References

Campaigns end, security on high alert
'' The Monitor'', 27 July 2005
Uganda votes on electoral change
''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

'', 28 July 2005
Multi-party poll divides Ugandan press
''

'', 28 July 2005
Multi-party leads in poll
'' The Monitor'', 29 July 2005
Uganda 'backs' multi-party return
''

'', 29 July 2005
Uganda backs multiparty politics early results show
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

'', 29 July 2005
Poor voter turnout mars referendum
'' The Monitor'', 29 July 2005
Turnup low in referendum
''

New Vision The ''New Vision'' is a Ugandan English-language daily newspaper. It was established in its current form in 1986 by the Government of Uganda. It is the flagship newspaper of the state-owned Vision Group, a multimedia conglomerate. Along with ...

'', 29 July 2005

External links

Uganda Electoral Commission
{{Ugandan elections

Multi-party In political science, a multi-party system is a political system where more than two meaningfully-distinct political parties regularly run for office and win elections. Multi-party systems tend to be more common in countries using proportional r ...

Referendums in Uganda