Uganda’s electoral commission has named incumbent President Yoweri Museveni the winner in Thursday’s election, but the main opposition party is rejecting the results as fraudulent.

Mugisha Muntu, the chairman of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party, said election results announced at the national tally centre in Kampala were “inconsistent” with results declared at polling stations.

Muntu told VOA Saturday that the party is compiling evidence to show Ugandans and poll observers that the election was rigged in favor of Museveni.

“One thing we can say for sure, which is nothing new to our party supporters, is that the elections have been fraudulent,” Muntu said.

Uganda’s electoral commission said Saturday that Museveni won the election with nearly 61 percent of the vote, more than enough to secure a first-round victory. It said his strongest challenger, FDC candidate Kizza Besigye, won 35 percent.

Besigye, who was arrested while trying to hold a news conference Friday, remains under house arrest.

The European Union’s election observer mission released a statement just hours before the final vote tally was due, saying the ruling National Resistance Movement’s domination of the political landscape “distorted the fairness of the campaign and state actors created an intimidating atmosphere for both voters and candidates” on election day and the days following.

Chief Observer Eduard Kukan praised Ugandan voters for their commitment to the electoral process.

Many voters waited in long lines Thursday for a chance to cast their ballots, and in parts of the capital, Kampala, and Wakiso district, the vote had to be continued into Friday to make up for delays in opening the polling stations.

But Kukan criticised the Electoral Commission for failing to effectively communicate steps that would have been needed to overcome “growing tensions caused by markedly delayed delivery of the voting material.”

•Excerpted from a VOA report. Photo shows veteran Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

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