“ELIMU HAINA MWISHO” UNDERSTANDING THE PROPER FUNCTION OF ELECTIONS IN A DEMOCRACY

                                             

One of the late Mwalimu Nyerere’s ‘top priority’ governance projects during the early years of his leadership, was  the  liberation  of  Tanzanians  from  IGNORANCE,  one  of  the  four   ‘enemies  of  the  people’  against  which he had declared  total  war.   And, in respect of the war against IGNORANCE, he gave first priority to  Adult  education;   since  the ‘elimination  of  illiteracy’  among  adults  was   the  greatest  need  at  that  time.  Thus, Mwalimu Nyerere repeatedly urged these adult citizens to always “aim higher”, by  endeavouring  to  acquire  more and  more  knowledge  after  they  had  completed  the  initial stage  of  knowing  how  to  read  and  write;  by  telling  them   that  “Elimu  haina  mwisho”.

Now,  the  whole  of  last week,  starting  from  Monday  8th October and  ending  on  Monday  14th (later  extended   to  17th) October, 2019;  was  the  period  during  which  Tanzanian  citizens  were urged  to register  themselves  as  voters   in  the  forthcoming  Local  Government  elections,  which  are  due  to  be  held  countrywide  on  24th  November, 2019.  

But,  apparently,   many  people  tended  to take  these  elections  for  granted,  thus,  unfortunately,   failing  to   grasp  the  full  meaning  of  such  elections;   and, in  particular,  failing  to understand  the  proper  functions   of  elections  in  a  democracy;   which   therefore  made  it  necessary  for   the  relevant  Government  Authorities,  including  President  Magufuli  himself,  to  intervene  and    undertake  the  task  of  urging  the  people  to  “turn  out  in  large  numbers  to  register  themselves  as  voters”,   in  order  that  they  may  qualify  for  participation  in  these  Local  Authorities  Elections. This shows   that there is a dire need for some more ‘adult education’ regarding the proper functions of elections in our society.

Today’s   article is a response to that particular need.  It is a small contribution to the ongoing commemorations marking the 20th anniversary of Mwalimu Nyerere’s death; because it   is designed to “walk his talk” in respect of his  “elimu  haina  mwisho”  dictum.

The proper functions of elections.  In  a  democracy,  the major  functions  of  elections  are  the  following:  (a) to create  a  sentiment  of  popular  participation  and consent,  in the  choice  of  political  leaders;  and  (b), to  provide  for  the orderly  succession  in  leadership  positions,  when  the  term of  office  of the  incumbent  leaders  comes  to  an end. Elections are universally regarded as the central feature of democracy; with the greatest emphasis being placed on the need to ensure that such elections are always free  and  fair.  

          Generally speaking, elections were originally designed in order ‘to provide an opportunity for voters to choose their leaders.’ This   opportunity includes the chance for voters to remove any unwanted leaders, or to renew the mandate of any good leaders; with the  important  exception that, in  the  case  of  Presidential  elections,  this  ‘renewal  of  mandate’  option   is  currently   limited  constitutionally  to  only   one  such  renewal .  But this restriction   does not apply to any other leadership category. This opportunity to ‘remove any unwanted leaders ‘is what explains the relatively large turnover of personnel at all other leadership levels (including  Members  of   Parliament,  and  Members of the  District or  Urban  local  Councils),  that  is  normally  witnessed   at  every  general  election.              

            I should perhaps emphasize the point that this “removal from power”, or “renewal of mandate”, applies not only to the  personnel  involved.   It   does, in fact, apply to both   such personnel, and   to   their   respective political parties.  This means that the voters also have the opportunity for either removing from power any incumbent ruling political party; or renewing its mandate for another  term  of  five  years,  entirely  as  they  themselves  may  deem  fit.                            

         And again, this is what explains why Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) has remained in power for all these  years  after  the  reintroduction  of  multi-party  politics  in  our country  in  1992.  It is simply because its mandate to remain in power   has been regularly and   continuously renewed, every five years.    

            The system of ‘governance by political parties’  The  “ parliamentary  system  of  governance”,   such  as  that  which  is  currently   operating  in  Tanzania,  is  technically  described  as  the  system  of “governance  by  political  parties”, whereby  the  political  party  that  wins  the  majority  of  the parliamentary  sets,  is  the  one  that  is  given  the  right  to  form  the  Government  of  the  day.   In that sense, political parties do constitute   the essence of parliamentary democracy.

It  can, however,  be  rightly  argued  that  this  arrangement  (of  governance  by  political  party), is  not  wholly  satisfactory,   for  the  following  cogent  reasons:  (a)  that  large numbers of  people  who  voted  for  the  losing  party  or  parties,  will  be  governed  by  the  party  whose  policies  they   probably  disagree with;  and  (b)  that  many  capable  men  and  women  who  do  not  belong  to  any   political  party,   can  play  no  role  whatsoever,  in  the  governance  of  their    country.  That could be considered to be the “negative side” of political parties.   But there is also a brighter “positive side” of political parties, which is described   in the paragraphs that follow below. 

The basic functions of political parties.

Such criticisms notwithstanding, political parties do have certain basic ‘positive’ functions to perform, which including the following:-  

    (i)  They  provide  a  stable  base  for  the  Government of  the   country;  in  the  sense  that  the  winning political  party  (which  forms  the  Government  of  the  day),  will  be  implementing  policies  and  programmes   that  have  been   endorsed  by  the  electorate,  which  gave   that  particular  party  the  majority  of  the  votes  cast.

(ii)  They perform the “interest aggregation” function; in the sense that they are the organs that process the demands which are  routinely  made  upon  the  political  system,  and  convert  them  into  policy  decisions. 
(iii)  They  provide  a  suitable,  and  convenient,   forum  for  the  participation  of  individual  citizens  in the  political  process;   in  the  sense  that  political  parties   are  the  only  social  structures  that are  capable  of involving  large  numbers  of  people  in  political  action,   on  a  sustained  and  controlled  basis;    so  that,  unless  some  particular  interest  of  an  individual  is  at  stake,  that  individual  does  not  have  to engage  himself  personally  in  extensive  and  continuous  articulation  of  his  general  interests,  as   these  will be  adequately  safeguarded  by  his  political  party,  with  minimum personal  involvement  on  his  part.

This, in fact, is what accounts for the absolute centrality of political parties, particularly   in the general public interests relating to the organization, and conduct, of elections. And  that,  is  also  what  explains   why,  in the  context  of  Tanzanian  law,  political  parties   were given  that  definition  which  appears  in  the   Political  Parties  Act (no. 5 of 1992), namely  that: “Political  party”  means  “any  organized  group  which   is  formed  for  the  purpose  of  forming  the  Government,  or  a  local authority,  within  the  United  Republic   through  elections;  or  for  putting  up,  or  supporting  candidates,   to  such  elections”.   Thus,  in  view   of  that  definition,  the  primary  purpose,  (or  indeed  the    raison  d’etre),  of  a  ‘political  party’  in Tanzania,  is  solely  to  participate  in  elections,  with  a  view  to  winning  the relevant   election,  and  thus  getting  the  right  to  form  the  Government   at  the  national  level,  or  forming  the  local  Authority  at  the  relevant  level;   or  both.     

Thus, any group which does not   subscribe to   these clearly articulated aims and objectives, does not qualify to be  registered  as  a  political  party.  Such group can only be registered under a different law, such as laws that   provide for the registration of  civil  society   organizations.

            The mythical assumptions regarding political parties.  

 Multi-party  ideologists  always  claim  that  multipartysm   gives   the  voters  the  opportunity  to  listen   to   different  policy  options  which  are  offered  by  different  political  parties   during  the  campaign  period  preceding   the  relevant  elections;  and  that  this  enables  them  to  vote  for  the  political  party  whose  policy  options  appear  to  give  them  the  greatest   hope.                       

But in practice, in the circumstances of relatively poor countries like Tanzania, this is ‘easier said than done.’ It   is, at best, only a ‘mythical assumption’, largely based on derivative ideas   borrowed   from other jurisdictions, in which there are genuine, fundamental ideological differences between the policies of their respective political parties,  such  as  those  of  capitalism  vs  socialism.                                                                

However,  in  the  prevailing  conditions  of our  poor  countries,  which  are  perversely   confronted  by   the  continued  presence  of  the  four  ‘enemies  of  the  people’   that  were  so   declared   by  Mwalimu  Julius  Nyerere   a  long  time  ago,  and  listed   as  poverty,  ignorance,  disease,  and  corruption;  the  only  viable  policy  option  for  any  serious  political  party,  is  the  ‘determination  to  wage  a  war  against  these  enemies’.   And, therefore, obviously, there can be no   fundamental   differences between political parties regarding these issues.   And    that is what reduces   the   proposition of “listening to different policy options offered by different political parties and choosing the best among them”, to a lowly  ‘mythical  assumption.’

The positive roles of political parties in elections.

            There are three major roles to be played by   political parties, in relation to elections.  They are the following: -(a) candidate selection; (b) the organization and management of the election campaign for its candidates; and (c) the mobilization of  votes  for  its  candidates.

“Candidate selection” is, of course, the first most essential step in this whole process.    

            For example, in some of the past general elections, particularly   those of 2010 and 2015, the indiscriminate selection of candidates by CCM led to the downfall of its candidates in  a  number  of  constituents.   Thus, “candidate selection” is a very serious business.   With regard to the “management of the election campaign”, we have already dismissed the false assumption that “each competing political party will put forward their policy options, and  that  the  voters  will  rationally   choose  the  option  that  gives  them  the  greatest  hope”.  Indeed, our accumulated experience in this regard, shows   that the tendency for the majority of voters, is to assess   the candidates individually, in order to determine which of them  possesses  the  desired  leadership  qualities,  specifically  those   of   ability  and  integrity. Because of that tendency, our election campaigns have become, in the vast majority of cases, entirely candidate- oriented, instead of being political party- oriented.

And finally, with regard to the third function of “mobilizing votes for the party’s   candidates”, (or the “catch-the- votes strategy)”; Basically, there   are three distinct categories of voters: - 

 (a)   those who strongly support the party; (b) those who strongly oppose it; and (c) the   undecided voters, i.e. those whose preferences  are  not  so  rigid,  that  they  can  be  changed  by  the  impact  of  the  election  campaign.                  

(b)   Hence, a suitable strategy for carrying out this particular function, is for the relevant political party to   concentrate on mobilizing  that  category  of  its  ‘strong  supporters’ ;  plus  the  third  category  of  those    “undecided  voters”,  by  attempting  to  persuade  them   to  vote  for  its  candidates.

An anonymous sage once said that “knowledge is power.” This understanding   of “the proper function of elections in a democracy” will, hopefully, empower the people to participate more fully in the entire election process, from  the  registration  of  voters  to  actual  voting  on  election  day itself.   And, additionally, knowledge regarding “the essential role of political parties in the parliamentary system of government” will also  solidify  their  acceptance  of  the fact  that   “political  parties  are  absolutely  essential  for  the  proper  functioning  of  the  parliamentary  system  of  governance.   ELIMU HAINA MWISHO.

piomsekwa@gmail.com/0754767576.                                 Sources: Daily New and Cde Msekwa Himself.