Cities, towns and villages remain tense as the appointed time for the announcement of the final tally of the 2011 presidential and parliamentary elections fast approaches.
By law, the Electoral Commission must release the final results 48 hours after the close of polls. So we can expect an announcement by 5pm local time. There are some conflicting reports that the announcement will come earlier but nothing has been officially confirmed.
Across town from the National Tallying Centre at Namboole Stadium, The Inter-Party Cooperation and its flagbearer Dr. Kizza Besigye have announced that they will be holding a press conference beginning at 2pm local time.There are no indications what the presidential candidate willannounceduring the press conference.
Many fear that the opposition candidate will call for mass demonstrations to protest the process which Besigye called “corrupt” in his press conference yesterday. Such an announcement could lead to mass arrests as the government has stated that any public desturbances will be met by force.
The army and the police are deployed throughout the city and they remain heavily armed. Most observers agree though that the atmosphere for a Tunisia, Egypt or now Bahrain-like movement is unlikely.
According to the latest preliminary results, Museveni leads with 68 percent with Besigye receiving 26 percent of the vote.