2011 Ugandan general election

General elections were held in Uganda on 18 February 2011. Incumbent President Yoweri Museveni of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) was re-elected for a third time, having been in power since 1986. The NRM also won 263 of the 375 seats in Parliament.

2011 Ugandan general election

18 February 2011 (2011-02-18)
Registered	13,954,129
Presidential election
Turnout	59.29% ( 9.9 pp)
Nominee Yoweri Museveni Kizza Besigye Party NRM FDC Popular vote 5,428,369 2,064,963 Percentage 68.38% 26.01%
President before election Yoweri Museveni NRM Elected President Yoweri Museveni NRM
Parliamentary election
365 of the 375 seats in Parliament 183 seats needed for a majority
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– NRM Yoweri Museveni 49.22 263 +50 FDC Kizza Besigye 13.56 34 −3 DP Norbert Mao 6.04 12 +4 UPC Olara Otunnu 3.37 10 +1 JEEMA Asuman Basalirwa 0.64 1 0 CP Ken Lukyamuzi 0.61 1 0 Independents – 25.78 43 +3 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Speaker of Parliament before Speaker of Parliament after Edward Ssekandi NRM Rebecca Kadaga NRM

Background

Museveni, a former guerilla commander, had ruled Uganda for nearly 30 years at the time of the elections. Kizza Besigye and Museveni faced each other for the third time, having previously been allies; Besigye was defeated by Museveni in the 2001 and 2006 elections.

Campaign

At the time of the elections, Uganda was facing a potential oil shock, which became a campaign issue.

Eight candidates contested the presidential elections, whilst a total of 1,713 candidates ran in the parliamentary elections; 1,270 for the constituency seats and 443 for the women's seats. The NRM contested every constituency seat, putting forward a total of 364 candidates. The Forum for Democratic Change nominated 288, the Uganda People's Congress 135, the Democratic Party 120, the Uganda Federal Alliance 66, the People's Progressive Party 33, and the People's Development Party 18.

Conduct

European Union observers said the election was "marred by avoidable and logistical failures, which led to an unacceptable number of Ugandan citizens being disenfranchised."

Results

President

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Yoweri Museveni	National Resistance Movement	5,428,369	68.38
	Kizza Besigye	Forum for Democratic Change	2,064,963	26.01
	Norbert Mao	Democratic Party	147,917	1.86
	Olara Otunnu	Uganda People's Congress	125,059	1.58
	Beti Kamya	Uganda Federal Alliance	52,782	0.66
	Abed Bwanika	People's Development Party	51,708	0.65
	Jaberi Bidandi Ssali	People's Progressive Party	34,688	0.44
	Samuel Lubega	Independent	32,726	0.41
Total			7,938,212	100.00
Valid votes			7,938,212	95.96
Invalid/blank votes			334,548	4.04
Total votes			8,272,760	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			13,954,129	59.29
Source: Electoral Commission

Parliament

See also: List of members of the ninth Parliament of Uganda

Party		Constituency			Women			Seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Appointed	Total	+/–
	National Resistance Movement	3,883,209	49.22	164	3,803,608	51.56	86	13	263	+50
	Forum for Democratic Change	1,070,109	13.56	23	1,242,218	16.84	11	0	34	–3
	Democratic Party	476,415	6.04	11	325,660	4.41	1	0	12	+4
	Uganda People's Congress	265,568	3.37	7	237,477	3.22	3	0	10	+1
	Justice Forum	50,120	0.64	1	10,796	0.15	0	0	1	0
	Conservative Party	48,276	0.61	1	1,084	0.01	0	0	1	0
	Uganda Federal Alliance	23,585	0.30	0	34,346	0.47	0	0	0	–
	People's Progressive Party	15,692	0.20	0	26,320	0.36	0	0	0	–
	Forum for Integrity in Leadership	8,871	0.11	0				0	0	–
	Social Democratic Party	5,664	0.07	0				0	0	–
	Popular People's Democracy	3,399	0.04	0				0	0	–
	People's Development Party	2,526	0.03	0	1,853	0.03	0	0	0	–
	Liberal Democratic Transparency	2,035	0.03	0	3,997	0.05	0	0	0	–
	Green Partisan Party	297	0.00	0				0	0	–
	Uganda Economic Party	207	0.00	0				0	0	–
	Independents	2,034,250	25.78	30	1,689,389	22.90	11	2	43	+3
Uganda People's Defence Force								10	10	0
Vacant				1				–	1	–
Total		7,890,223	100.00	238	7,376,748	100.00	112	25	375	+56
Source: Election Passport, UC

Aftermath

The four-party Inter-Party Cooperation chairman Kizza Besigye said before the results were announced that the opposition "categorically rejects the outcome of the elections." He later warned that Uganda was ripe for an Egypt-style revolt after Museveni's more than two decades in power. However, the protesters failed to amass in large numbers because, as The Christian Science Monitor suggested, a failure to tally its own results through its own SMS system was disrupted by the government, who also arrested hundreds of opposition field agents. They also suggested that Besigye did not believe his own claim of sparking a revolution. After losing out twice to Museveni – whose personal physician and loyal ally he once was – this third attempt seems to have shattered him.

Further reading

• Gibb, Ryan (2012). "Presidential and parliamentary elections in Uganda, February 18, 2011". Electoral Studies. 31 (2): 458–461. doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2012.02.003.