KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda’s ruling party chose the country’s long-serving president to be its unopposed candidate for elections in 2016, eliminating the potential challenge of internal rivals who could threaten the leader’s nearly 30-year grip on power.

A statement late Tuesday from the ruling party, whose senior officials have been holding a retreat, said President Yoweri Museveni remains the party’s “driver” and that “anybody else can wait.” The statement slammed Museveni’s rivals as a danger to “party cohesion” and urged them to “shelve” their presidential hopes for the sake of party unity, without naming them.