Museveni suspends cabinet, parliament ahead of NRM elections

President Yoweri Museveni has temporarily suspended cabinet and parliamentary sessions to enable National Resistance Movement (NRM) members to participate in the party’s upcoming grassroots elections.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Museveni announced the suspension of Monday’s cabinet meeting and asked the speaker of parliament, Anita Among, to halt Tuesday’s plenary session to allow ministers and Members of Parliament to take part in the exercise.

“I am alerting and requesting all NRM members to go to their respective village centers by 10:00 am on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, to do two things: take part in the baraza to verify members registered in the NRM registers, and elect the NRM LCI flag-bearer for chairmanship, as well as other village NRM structures,” Museveni said.

He emphasized that the activities must be conducted strictly between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm. The president added that he would personally participate in the verification exercise at his home village of Rwakitura, while the First Lady, Janet Museveni, will do the same in Ireenga village, Ntungamo.

However, Museveni clarified that he would not be endorsing any candidate.

“As chairman of the NRM, I welcome any choice of our members. I cannot and should not, therefore, take sides,” he said.

The NRM exercise is part of broader preparations for the 2026 general elections, scheduled for January. Political parties have already begun implementing their electoral roadmaps to select flagbearers for various positions.

Last week, both the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) and the Democratic Party (DP) closed the window for expressions of interest from those seeking their party’s presidential flagbearer slots.

DP president Norbert Mao declared his intention to continue leading the party and contest as its presidential flagbearer. In FDC, both party president Patrick Amuriat Oboi and secretary general Nathan Nandala Mafabi picked nomination forms to vie for the flagbearer position. Unlike in DP, the FDC party president does not automatically become the presidential candidate.