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President Yoweri Museveni was on Saturday officially declared winner of Uganda's first multiparty elections in more than 20 years, but the emergence of a stronger opposition in the polls, coupled with Museveni's row with the West, has placed him in a hot seat for now.

Stronger opposition

Museveni has collected 59 percent of the over 7 million votes cast in Thursday's general elections, with his main rival, Kizza Besigye of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) receiving 37.36 percent, an outcome very similar to what was expected.

The result will see Museveni's two decades of power extending to a quarter of a century, but has also demonstrated the strength and popularity of the opposition.

Things didn't go smooth from the very beginning. A July 2005 referendum on the multiparty system decided on the return of multiparty politics, but was decried by the opposition as an " empty gesture" intended to cement Museveni's hold on power. A constitutional amendment allowing Museveni to seek further terms in office didn't help to appease such suspicion.

According to the 1995 Constitution, any elected president has only a maximum of two terms in office. Museveni was reelected in 2001 and his second term expires in 2006.

The prospect of a life president had led to several protests, which triggered clashes between protesters and police.

October 2005 saw the return of Museveni's main rival Kizza Besigye, who was sure to be Museveni's top challenger in the elections, from four years of self-imposed exile in South Africa. But the elation surrounding his return soon turned sour when he was arrested and charged with treason and rape just three weeks back in the country.

Critics said Museveni may have been surprised by the warm public welcome Besigye received, and said his prosecution is evidence of the president's increasingly "autocratic" rule, further damaging Uganda's newly strained relations with the West.

Besigye enjoys greater support in urban areas than Museveni does. Many city dwellers said they want change in the way the country is run.

"I am not happy of the way our country is running. I don't think a country with a leader for life will be a democratic country. That's the prime reason I will not vote for the incumbent president," said Paul Kiryowa, an IT engineer in the capital Kampala, before the election day.

'Model country' at crossraods

Widely acclaimed in international and development circles for its economic recovery and sustained growth under Museveni since the troubled days of both Obote and Idi Amin, Uganda is often referred to as an African success story, despite a brutal insurgency in the north that has rumbled on for just about as long as Museveni has been in power.

Museveni -- who seized power in 1986 after a five-year guerrilla war -- was once a darling of the international donor community, described by former US president Bill Clinton as the head of a new breed of African leaders who will transform the continent to shed its image of poverty, disease and war.

But events took place last year has triggered a fall out. Some western donors have cut portions of aid to show their disapproval of the political situation in the country.

In April last year, Britain, Uganda's former colonial master, announced it was withholding some US$9.5 million in budget support due to concerns about Uganda's democratization.

The decision of western donors to cut aid came after an economic and governance assessment raised concerns over the Ugandan government's commitment to the independence of the Judiciary, press freedom and freedom of association following the arrest of opposition leader Kizza Besigye.

In the face of criticism, Museveni stood firm, saying that his political opponent must face justice to the letter of law.

Budget supports cuts to Uganda now amount to US$73 million. The Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish and British governments are some of the Western countries that have cut budget support to Uganda over governance issues.

The Ugandan government has vowed to move on despite mounting pressure from donor countries on what political path the country should take as it goes through a political transition.

However, this puts the east African country in a tricky situation, for like many African countries, almost half of the government budget is supported by donors.

Questions abound

Opposition and donors are not the only problems the president is facing. To bring about development is surely a priority if Museveni is to satisfy his voters.

Bestowed with substantial natural resources, Uganda remains one of the poorest countries in the world, and a severe power shortage it is currently experiencing revealed the country's energy supply problem.

Museveni has promised to address the problem with the construction of power dams and other stop-gap measures. But there are concerns about whether the government can get enough funds for these programs.

The president himself has pointed fingers elsewhere. In his last campaign address before the elections, Museveni said the current shortage of electricity was brought about by opposition MPs who sabotaged construction of power dams. He also mentioned foreign interference as another factor that contributed to the power shortage.

He said that the government has decided to exercise sovereignty in decision making concerning security, electricity and road construction because outside interference has for long hampered progress in these programs.

Apart from these concerns, there are also other problems challenging the Ugandan government, such as dissatisfaction with high taxes.

Paul Kiryowa, an IT engineer in the capital Kampala, said one reason he wouldn't vote for Museveni is "too much taxes. As a middle-class, I have to set aside over 25 percent of my salary for taxes, that's too much. That makes Ugandans feel living is more and more difficult."

But with its current row with donors, the government, which relies heavily on aid, has its own problems to make ends meet, while at the same time bring growth. Though he has to fight to be on it, the newly re-elected President Yoweri Museveni is certainly sitting on a hot seat.

(Xinhua News Agency February 27, 2006)