Lawyers acting for Democratic Party President Norbert Mao are expected to this morning meet the electoral commission in Kampala over the refusal by the election registrar in Gulu to nominate Mao for the Gulu municipality parliamentary seat on the grounds that he is not a registered voter.
Acholi Times understands from a reliable source that the meeting between Mao’s lawyers and the EC should have began at 9 am this morning. The lawyers are expected to lodge a complaint with EC.
‘‘We are putting the court option on hold to pursue the matter with the electoral commission as per section 16 of the parliamentary election act,’’ one of Mao’s lawyers in Gulu told Acholi Times.
The lawyer said under the act, if a returning officer refuses to nominate an aspirant, the aspirant can appeal to the electoral commission and the electoral commission is expected by the law to respond within seven days upholding or reversing the decision of the returning officer.
The decision on whether Mao heads to court or not will be determined by the response of the EC after lodging of the complaint, his lawyers say.
Mao himself, looking unbothered by the furor caused by the rejection of his nomination has caused, said last evening at a rally in Gulu town that the ‘‘election is not about him but the people.’’
Mao said he had for the last four months been struggling to register for a national ID without success.
‘‘The EC is upholding political interests,’’ he told the rally.
As the Mao nomination debacle unfolds, it is emerging that the Democratic Party has a ‘‘plan B’’ which includes nomination of Leander Komakech, a former aspirant for the Gulu municipality seat in the 2010 elections.
Komakech came second after Acire Christopher the winner of the elections and the current MP for Gulu municipality. He was by Mao’s side at yesterday’s failed nomination.
Acholi Times will keep you our readers updated on this developing story.
Meanwhile there is a noticeable heavy deployment of police (compared to yesterday) at the district council hall where the nomination of candidates is taking place. The deployment is being attributed to the likelihood of Mao supporters getting rowdy in the event he is not nominated today. Police however says the increased number of police at the district council hall is not related to Mao.
