{UAH} Kashambuzi-- Marcos Too found it Hard to Leave After 21 Years
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Uganda Votes 2016: People's Power Will Win As It Did In Philippines Against Marcos And Elsewhere
BY ERIC KASHAMBUZI
The assassination of Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, a prominent opposition Filipino politician in 1983 changed Filipino attitude from passive acceptance of President Ferdinand Marcos's repression to reclaiming their political rights, freedoms and dignity.
The presidential election that Marcos organized in 1986 turned out to be a farce because they were heavily-rigged and the opposition leader Corazon Aquino refused to concede defeat. Instead she called on her supporters to a rally in Manila, the capital city.
One million people turned up. Aquino told them to begin civil disobedience including boycotting businesses owned by Marcos' crony capitalists. She also called for a massive strike on the day of Marcos' inauguration, February 25.
The defense minister and the deputy army commander and their military followers joined in the civil disobedience together with the leader of the Catholic Church and his followers.
It was all over for dictator Marcos.
The Archbishop of Manila called on his followers to bring food and feed the soldiers that had joined the demonstration. Civilian demonstrators formed a human shield to protect the soldiers from an attack by Marcos loyal troops.
The commander of the marine force loyal to Marcos threatened to shoot peaceful demonstrators if they did not disperse. The people ignored the order. Instead they offered flowers and cigarettes to the marines. Helpless, the marines turned back.
On the inauguration day, two million people turned up. By this time nearly the entire armed forces had deserted their Commander-in-Chief Marcos and joined the people (See People Building Peace, 1999).
The assassination of Aquino in 1983 and the election fraud in 1986 triggered change in the alignment of political forces. The Church, the business community and the middle class became aligned with the opposition. Externally, the State Department and Congress of the United States began to withdraw support from Marcos (see Douglas Johnston and Cynthia Sampson 1994).
The message was clear. Without the people, the armed forces and the United States, Marcos concluded the game was up. He and his family departed the country for a life in exile. A bloodless people's revolution had taken place.
In the event that the February 18, 2016 elections may be rigged by the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party led by President Yoweri Museveni as widely suspected, can Ugandans – civilian and military – reclaim their freedoms, rights and dignity without shedding blood as the Filipino did?
Kashambuzi is Secretary General of United Democratic Ugandans (UDU).
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