Kampala — PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has ruled out the reform of the electoral laws ahead of the 2011 elections, the key demand of the opposition.

In a five-paragraph letter to former minister Jaberi Bidandi Ssali, the leader of the People's Progressive Party, Museveni said the laws had already been reformed and what remained was the computerisation of the voters register in order to prevent "cheating by the opposition particularly in Kampala and in the northern region".

Museveni was responding to Bidandi's letter of April 19, 2009, in which he accused the Government of deliberately delaying to amend the electoral laws.

In a terse reply letter on May 14, Museveni said: "You talk of amending the electoral law. Amend it in order to achieve what? You were there when we reformed the UPC electoral laws-introducing one ballot box, one ballot paper, counting and announcing results immediately after counting, etc."

He added: "The only remaining point is computerising the voters' register in order to stop the opposition from engaging in multiple registration of voters, which they have been doing in Kampala, the north and other areas. Which other electoral reforms are you talking about?"

The Inter-Party Cooperation, a coalition of Forum for Democratic Change, the Conservative Party, the Uganda People's Congress and Jeema, also last month proposed electoral reforms.

In the proposals presented to Speaker Edward Ssekandi on May 14, the coalition called for the restoration of the presidential term limits, the disbanding of the Electoral Commission and prohibition of involvement of the army and other security agencies in elections.

The coalition also called for new rules to ensure accountability and transparency in casting, counting and tallying votes and announcing results.

It further proposed that people convicted of electoral offences should not be nominated for the byelection and in the general election.

In his three-page letter, Bidandi reinforced the demands. "We see your unwillingness to amend the electoral laws as part of a deliberate scheme to rig the 2011 elections," he said.

Bidandi stated that he had written the letter to "caution a colleague" whom he respected but believed had "lost conscience and all ethical ethos of leadership" and who was therefore "bound to land the country into the abyss of further disintegration, hatred and chaos".

Bidandi, who has just completed a diploma in local governance and human rights, intends to run for the presidency in 2011. His party has not joined the alliance which is seeking to field a joint presidential candidate.

Bidandi was a minister in the NRM government from 1986 to 2003 when he was sacked after he opposed the constitutional amendment to scrap the presidential two-term limit, which allowed Museveni to stand again in 2006.

"Judging by what has been happening during the byelections which have included intimidation, beating of voters and stuffing of ballot boxes perpetrated especially by your NRM, the country is likely to experience the same if not worse chaos come 2011," said Bidandi.

He called for the r reconstitution of the Electoral Commission, which he said could not, under the current law, organise free and fair elections.

Bidandi also urged Museveni to let his son, Lt. Col. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, "out of his parental grip to enable him fulfill his professional mandate to the country".

"You have ceded Muhoozi, your son, to the service of the country and to the people of Uganda. Set him free so that his destiny is not embroiled in your destiny which in the end will be defined and decided by your own actions and decisions."

"This is a divine law of nature that has enabled the children of past leaders like Amin, Obote, Lutwa and others live peacefully outside the shadows of their parents. The same position though does not hold in respect of the children of the late Mobutu Sese Seko or the Saddams of yesterday," noted Bidandi.

Museveni said whatever Muhoozi had achieved was on merit and the desire to sacrifice for his country. Muhoozi commands the Special Forces and Mechanised Regiment.

"I have nothing but happiness for my son to offer his life in the service of the army as my young brother, Saleh, did... Ugandans should salute such patriots. Uganda is where it is now because of such patriots," Museveni said.

On kings, Museveni told Bidandi he needed "very little lecture" because he "led those who restored those kings having been abolished by Obote in 1967". Museveni, however, warned kings to respect the Constitution. "We shall resist any king who persistently violates the Constitution."

On Bidandi's worry that the chaos of the 1980s would return, Museveni warned: "Anyone who precipitates a crisis involving attempts to kill Ugandans will give us opportunity to create real discipline among the opportunistic political class of Uganda."