Rhino RadioRadio Rhino
Click now to listen
Uganda Peoples Congress

INTER-PARTY COOPERATION (IPC)
JOINT ELECTORAL PLATFORM (JEP) MEETING
August 3-6, 2009

Agreed Positions

1.0 TYPE OF COOPERATION

In accordance with section 18 of the Political Parties and Organisations Act 2005 (PPOA), the Inter-Party Cooperation shall transform itself into an Alliance. The Alliance shall be called the Inter Party Alliance, (IPA) and shall contest the 2011 Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections under a common electoral platform.

1.2. Under section 18 of the PPOA, each party shall remain as a separate registered political entity. During elections each candidate of the Alliance shall be personally identified by the symbol of his/her party on the ballot paper. Each of the Inter-Party Alliance member party shall be required to furnish the Electoral Commission within such a period as the Electoral Commission shall direct, a copy of the terms of the agreement of the Alliance.

1.3 An additional Protocol shall be signed for the purpose of transforming the Cooperation into an Alliance.

2.0 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE IPA PROTOCOL

2.1 Organs of the Inter-Party Alliance

The IPA shall have the following Organs: 2.1.1. The National Conference
2.1.2. The Summit
2.1.3. The Steering Committee
2.1.4 The Secretariat

2.2 The National Conference

There shall be a national Conference of the IPA which shall be the Supreme Organ of the IPA and shall meet at least once a year.

It shall comprise the following:
2.2.1 100 Members from each of the IPA member party
2.2.2 District Chairpersons of each of the IPA member party

In nominating the 100 members in 2.2.1 above, each party should consider, among others, those persons who have been involved in the IPC/IPA work, MPs/East African Legislative Assembly, District Chairpersons of the participating parties.

2.2.3 Electoral Conferences

2.2.3.1 There shall be IPA District Electoral Conferences in every district of Uganda constituted by nominees of each participating political party in the IPA which has a presence in the district determined by at least four hundred registered card carrying members disclosed to the Steering Committee at least one month before the IPA candidate selection or election.

2.2.3.2 There shall be IPA Constituency Electoral Conference in every constituency in Uganda constituted by nominees of each participating political party in the IPA which has a presence in the Constituency determined by at least two hundred registered card carrying members disclosed to the Steering Committee at least one month before the IPA candidate selection or election.

2.2.3.3 There shall be IPA Subcounty Electoral Conferences in every Sub-county of Uganda constituted by nominees of each participating political party in the IPA which has a presence in the Sub-county determined by at least one hundred registered card carrying members disclosed to the Steering Committee at least one month before the IPA candidate selection or election.

2.3 The Summit

There shall be a Summit which shall be the governing body of the IPA. It shall be composed of the party Presidents/Presidents General/Heads of the participating political parties who shall be accompanied by the Secretary Generals and two other officers.

2.4 The Steering Committee

2.4.1 There shall be a Steering Committee which shall be responsible for designing, coordinating and executing the workplan of the Alliance and drawing the terms of reference of the specialized committees of the Summit.

The Steering Committee shall be composed of:
  1. 4 persons nominated by each IPA member party
  2. Two of the nominated persons shall have competencies in legal and electoral matters

2.4.2 Specialised Committees of the Steering Committee

The Steering Committee shall establish the following specialised committees at National, District, Constituency and Sub-county and may establish any other committee:

  1. Resource Mobilisation Committee
  2. Manifesto Committee
  3. Electoral Affairs Committee
  4. Campaign Committee
  5. Communications Committee
  6. Arbitration and Disciplinary Committee
  7. Research and Information Committee
No member of the Steering Committee shall be a member of the Specialised Committees except as an ex-officio member.

2.5 The Secretariat

2.5.1 Change Initiative Limited, CIL, shall continue to serve as the Secretariat of the IPA as per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Christian Democratic International Centre, KIC, of Sweden, and CIL until its expiry at the end of December 2010.

2.5.2 The IPA shall establish a dedicated political Secretariat to manage the IPA campaigns of 2011.

2.5.3 Additional resources shall be mobilised to meet the secretariat's expanded role.

3.0 CANDIDATE SELECTION

3.1 Presidential Candidate
Each party in the Alliance shall conduct its own primaries to select a single Presidential candidate to present to the IPA Electoral Affairs Committee. The IPA Presidential candidate shall be selected by consensus and endorsed by the National Conference. And if consensus fails, then by vote where each Party shall have one vote and if that fails, then the general conference where each eligible member in the conference has one vote.

3.2 Parliamentary Candidates

3.2.1. Each party in the Alliance shall conduct its own parliamentary candidate primaries according to the provisions of their constitution. A list of the successful candidates will be submitted to the IPA National Electoral Affairs Committee. The IPA parliamentary candidate shall be selected by consensus by the IPA Constituency Electoral Conferences and in case of District Woman MP, the IPA District Conference who shall take into account such considerations as electability, incumbency, gender and integrity. The candidates should meet the electoral legal requirements.

In case of Special interest Groups' proportional representation, each party shall propose a list of specialised interest groups in order of preference from which an IPA list will be generated.

In the event that a Party candidate having lost in the IPA primaries is fronted by the same party outside the IPA arrangement, the party ceases to be a member of IPA.

3.2.2. Where no consensus is reached, the IPA District or Parliamentary Electoral Conference as the case may be, shall hold a joint primary by an electoral college composed of Chairpersons of Branch, Parish, Sub-County, Constituency and District levels and the Chairpersons of Youth and Women Chairpersons at all the cited levels from each of the contesting parties to elect the IPA candidate for the district or Constituency member of parliament

3.2.3 A constituency shall be reserved for each Presidential Candidate whose name was submitted by his or her party to the National Electoral Affairs Committee but did not become the IPA presidential candidate if they so wish.
* CP to provide criteria for reserving Constituency for re-consideration by the generals

3.2.4 A final IPA candidate list shall be sent by the Constituency Electoral Conference or District Electoral Conference as the case may be to the National Electoral Affairs Committee which shall issue a certificate of eligibility to contest as an IPA candidate.

3.3 Local Government Candidates

3.3.1. Each party in the Alliance shall conduct its own local government candidate primaries according to the provisions of their constitution. A list of the successful candidates will be submitted to the IPA National Electoral Affairs Committee. The IPA local government candidate shall be selected by consensus by the IPA District or sub-county electoral conferences as the case may be, which shall take into account such considerations as electability, incumbency, gender and integrity. The candidates should meet the electoral legal requirements.

3.3.2. The final candidate shall be selected through consensus.

3.3.3. A final IPA candidate list shall be sent by the District Conference or in the case of sub-county, through the District Electoral Committee, to the IPA National Electoral Affairs Committee which shall issue a certificate of eligibility to contest as an IPA Local Government candidate.

3.4 Local Council Candidates

Parties shall identify candidates for local council elections for preparation in the elections. The IPA member parties shall cooperate and coordinate their participation to ensure victory. Members of the IPA participating parties at the grassroots shall monitor the entire electoral process. They will ensure that IPA party members and supporters are registered as voters, verify voters on the register, participate in the reorganisation of polling stations, get out the vote and guard the vote and watch the entire electoral process.

4.0 NEW IPA MEMBERS

The participating political parties may admit upon a written application any other political party to the Alliance if it meets the following criteria, namely:
  1. The Party is registered under the law.
  2. The Party has held its National Delegates Conference (or other supreme organ of the Party) in the last five years.
  3. The Party has a known physical address.
  4. The Party has a functional Secretariat.
  5. The Party follows its Constitution.
  6. The Party has participated in at least one national general election or Parliamentary and/or District by-elections.
  7. The Party is ready to abide by the aims and objectives of the Alliance.
  8. The party is not otherwise allied in anyway to another political party which is not a member of the Alliance.
  9. The Party has been approved by Two Thirds majority of the members of the Summit of the Alliance.

5.0 IPA COALITION GOVERNMENT

5.1 An Inter-Party Coalition Government shall be formed by the IPA participating Parties. Each Party whose candidate is not the elected President of the Republic of Uganda shall be eligible to any of the following constitutional positions below:

  • Vice President
  • Prime Minister
  • Speaker
  • Deputy Speaker
  • Ministers of Defence, Finance, Internal Affairs and Foreign Affairs

5.2 Cabinet posts which are not listed above and other appointments shall be shared equitably provided 40% of all positions shall go to women.

5.3 Consideration for regional and religious diversity shall be emphasised in all the power sharing arrangements.

6.0 DURATION OF THE INTER-PARTY ALLIANCE

6.1 The Inter Party Alliance shall be in existence for a period of five years after winning the election in which case it will be the known as the Inter Party Coalition Government.

6.2. In the unlikely event of not winning, the IPA National Conference shall converge after elections to review the IPA performance. It may then decide to continue with the Alliance or to wind up within one year after settling its obligations.