The word “voyage”, ordinarily means “a long journey by sea”; in which the travelers are likely to encounter some unexpected problems, that may be caused by bad or rough weather. Similarly, in our 30 years of implementing the multi-party political system, we too have encountered certain ‘rough weather’ problems; and particularly, the initial “apprehensions” that were largely based on what is known as “fear of the unknown”, primarily because of the novelty of the idea itself.
In his inaugural speech to the first de jure multi-party Parliament in November 1995, the late President Benjamin Mkapa said the following immortal words:-“ In making the transition to multi-party politics, we were harbouring some strong doubts and apprehensions, that such change would probably lead to a resurgence of the divisive tribal and/or religious sentiments among our people, thereby undermining our cherished national cohesion and unity which we have worked so hard to develop and nurture. But, thanks to the political maturity of our people, these fears never materialized”.
President Mkapa was, no doubt, referring to the findings of the Nyalali commission which, in its Report, had disclosed that 80% of all the people who had expressed their views and opinions to that commission on the question whether, or not, our country should adopt the multi-party system, had actually rejected the idea of re-introducing multi-party politics in Tanzania. And this, presumably, had been influenced by the apprehensions based on this “fear of the unknown”. I was a member of that commission, and I still have very vivid memories of those events.
The fears regarding Zanzibar’s stability under multi-party politics. Some of these apprehensions and fears were in relation to Zanzibar’s stability under multi-party politics. It was genuinely feared, that a return to multi-party politics would probably ‘take Zanzibar back to the undesirable divisive politics which had bedevilled that country during the whole of the period before the 1964 glorious revolution’. This fear was clearly manifested in the ‘terms of reference’ that were given to the Nyalali Commission, no. (vii) of which directed the commission: “To give special consideration to the expected impact on Zanzibar, which may result from changing the present political system, considering its unpleasant electoral history, and the culture of the people of Zanzibar”.
In his inaugural speech to the first de jure multi-party Parliament in November 1995, the late President Benjamin Mkapa said the following immortal words:-“ In making the transition to multi-party politics, we were harbouring some strong doubts and apprehensions, that such change would probably lead to a resurgence of the divisive tribal and/or religious sentiments among our people, thereby undermining our cherished national cohesion and unity which we have worked so hard to develop and nurture. But, thanks to the political maturity of our people, these fears never materialized”.
President Mkapa was, no doubt, referring to the findings of the Nyalali commission which, in its Report, had disclosed that 80% of all the people who had expressed their views and opinions to that commission on the question whether, or not, our country should adopt the multi-party system, had actually rejected the idea of re-introducing multi-party politics in Tanzania. And this, presumably, had been influenced by the apprehensions based on this “fear of the unknown”. I was a member of that commission, and I still have very vivid memories of those events.
The fears regarding Zanzibar’s stability under multi-party politics. Some of these apprehensions and fears were in relation to Zanzibar’s stability under multi-party politics. It was genuinely feared, that a return to multi-party politics would probably ‘take Zanzibar back to the undesirable divisive politics which had bedevilled that country during the whole of the period before the 1964 glorious revolution’. This fear was clearly manifested in the ‘terms of reference’ that were given to the Nyalali Commission, no. (vii) of which directed the commission: “To give special consideration to the expected impact on Zanzibar, which may result from changing the present political system, considering its unpleasant electoral history, and the culture of the people of Zanzibar”.
We, of course, gave due consideration to this particular reference; but we nevertheless recommended that Zanzibar should adopt the multi-party system, along with Tanzania Mainland; which the ruling party CCM gracefully accepted. Hence, with such ‘fears and apprehensions’ dominating the minds of such a large majority of the people, this voyage had, inevitably, a pretty difficult, and uneasy start. But, presumably due to the “political maturity” of our people that was asserted by President Mkapa; what had been so widely feared, never actually materialized.
The rough weather that we have encountered.
“Multi-party democracy” essentially means ‘electoral democracy’; simply because ‘competitive free elections’ are the vital pillars of a properly functioning democratic system. And it is primarily in this area of elections, that our voyage has encountered the problems of “bad weather”; which, in this context, refers to the serious challenges that have occurred over the period under discussion.
The basic challenge : the lack of the multiparty culture.
Many of the countries which inherited the British Parliamentary system, appear to have been faced with a variety of different problems upon their transition to multi-party politics; which can be attributed to the ‘lack of the multi-party culture’. Information that was put together by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, and published in its Journal “The Parliamentarian” in separate issues during the years 2000, 2002, and 2003; reveals the following negative outcomes regarding the impact of this new system on the politics of some of its member countries ; where it is reported therein as follows :-
“Multi-party democracy” essentially means ‘electoral democracy’; simply because ‘competitive free elections’ are the vital pillars of a properly functioning democratic system. And it is primarily in this area of elections, that our voyage has encountered the problems of “bad weather”; which, in this context, refers to the serious challenges that have occurred over the period under discussion.
The basic challenge : the lack of the multiparty culture.
Many of the countries which inherited the British Parliamentary system, appear to have been faced with a variety of different problems upon their transition to multi-party politics; which can be attributed to the ‘lack of the multi-party culture’. Information that was put together by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, and published in its Journal “The Parliamentarian” in separate issues during the years 2000, 2002, and 2003; reveals the following negative outcomes regarding the impact of this new system on the politics of some of its member countries ; where it is reported therein as follows :-
(i) Papua New Guinea (PNG). “Party politics in PNG have generally been based on personalities, rather than policies, In this ‘big man’ style of politics, voters are more likely to be won by family and clan affiliations, than through well developed party policies”.
(ii) Grenada. “The Caribbean people have long had a reputation for passionate partisan debate, in the adversarial form of Parliamentary democracy inherited from Westminster; and always playing by the rules, namely, the winners took office, and the losers continued the debate from the opposition benches inside Parliament, while preparing for the next election. But today, such debates are being continued not in Parliament, but in street demonstrations. Our acceptance of the Parliamentary system is being seriously eroded”. (iii) Lesotho. “Political activity in Lesotho has been partisan in form, and exclusionary in character. Society has been balkanized into new groupings which call themselves political parties, dedicated to vying for, and excluding one another from, control of state power. Political parties in Lesotho are emerged in mutual disdain and repugnance that members of the different political parties feel for each other; and this attitude has created a basis for political instability that has become a permanent feature of politics in the country”. (iv) Kenya. “The re-introduction of political pluralism was one of the greatest developments in Kenya since independence. But it now appears that political parties have turned into a liability, not only stifling democracy, but also impeding the transformation of Kenya into a modern society. Virtually all political parties have sacrificed healthy competition and internal democracy, at the altar of individual aggrandizement”.
The specific challenges relating to elections.
(i) The strategy of ‘crying foul’. One of such challenges , was the emergence of a strange feeling, or strategy, among some of the political who participate in the elections; which may be expressed thus:- “If you participate in an election you must win. If you don’t win, you have been cheated!”. Due to the absence of the requisite political culture, “crying foul” has become a fairly common strategy to be adopted by the losers in elections ; which is then followed by the losing party engaging itself in variety of acts of commission and/or omission leading to breaches of the peace. But this is the surest way of creating violence; since the winning government party will most likely respond by using state power to restore peace.
(ii) Grenada. “The Caribbean people have long had a reputation for passionate partisan debate, in the adversarial form of Parliamentary democracy inherited from Westminster; and always playing by the rules, namely, the winners took office, and the losers continued the debate from the opposition benches inside Parliament, while preparing for the next election. But today, such debates are being continued not in Parliament, but in street demonstrations. Our acceptance of the Parliamentary system is being seriously eroded”. (iii) Lesotho. “Political activity in Lesotho has been partisan in form, and exclusionary in character. Society has been balkanized into new groupings which call themselves political parties, dedicated to vying for, and excluding one another from, control of state power. Political parties in Lesotho are emerged in mutual disdain and repugnance that members of the different political parties feel for each other; and this attitude has created a basis for political instability that has become a permanent feature of politics in the country”. (iv) Kenya. “The re-introduction of political pluralism was one of the greatest developments in Kenya since independence. But it now appears that political parties have turned into a liability, not only stifling democracy, but also impeding the transformation of Kenya into a modern society. Virtually all political parties have sacrificed healthy competition and internal democracy, at the altar of individual aggrandizement”.
The specific challenges relating to elections.
(i) The strategy of ‘crying foul’. One of such challenges , was the emergence of a strange feeling, or strategy, among some of the political who participate in the elections; which may be expressed thus:- “If you participate in an election you must win. If you don’t win, you have been cheated!”. Due to the absence of the requisite political culture, “crying foul” has become a fairly common strategy to be adopted by the losers in elections ; which is then followed by the losing party engaging itself in variety of acts of commission and/or omission leading to breaches of the peace. But this is the surest way of creating violence; since the winning government party will most likely respond by using state power to restore peace.
And this is what actually occurred in Zanzibar following the first multi-party election of 1995; when the opposition CUF refused to accept the results of the Zanzibar Presidential election, and announced a policy of total non-cooperation with the newly elected government ; and went on to engaged themselves in serious acts of civil disobedience. This forced the government to respond by arresting some of the CUF leaders, who were charged with the offence of treason. These events created a serious political impasse which lasted for the whole of the remaining five-year constitutional leadership period. (ii) Unsubstantiated election complaints. Such as the joint election petition which was filed immediately following the first multi-party general election of 1995. This petition was filed by a combined team of Opposition political parties that included NCCR-MAGEUZI; CUF; CHADEMA; UDP; UMD; TADEA; PONA; NLD; and NAREA. It is cited in the Tanzania Law Reports as the case of Augustine Lyatonga Mrema and others v Attorney General and others, (1996); which was challenging the validity of that election, and seeking its nullification. The case was heard by a panel of three judges of the High Court, who unanimously held that the case had no merit, and dismissed it with costs.
I realize, of course, that there were other genuine election complaints, which were sustained by the High Court (which is the court of competent jurisdiction in the matter of election petitions). I have in mind the successful ‘Kigoma Urban’ constituency by-election petition which had been filed by CHADEMA, challenging the winner CCM on several grounds that (allegedly) constituted a breach of the election law, and the associated rules and regulations issued by the National Electoral Commission. (iii) ‘Post-election violence’.
Such as that which occurred in January 2001, following the Opposition CUF party’s rejection of the 2000 Zanzibar Presidential election results; following which a tragedy occurred in Pemba, when CUF organized a demonstration, ostensibly to protest the results thereof; but which turned violent, when the protesters beheaded a policeman who was on duty in the path of the demonstrators, and then set off to attack a police station, where the small police contingent opened fire on the demonstrators, reportedly causing the death of 22 persons.
(iv) Other challenges : the legal deficiencies.
There are two glaring deficiencies in this category, which have caused many legitimate complaints. They are the unreasonable provisions in the constitution, which outlaw (a) any court action in cases challenging Union or Zanzibar Presidential election results; and (b) the participation of private candidates in our elections. There must have been ‘good and cogent’ reasons for including these provisions at the material time; but times have now changed, and it can be reasonably argued, that such restrictions could be removed without causing any material harm to society.
(v) The role of Parliament.
The “rules of competition” of multi-party politics, require that when the parliamentary elections are concluded, political competition transfers directly to the floor of Parliament; where such competition continues to take place between “the winners who took office occupying the government benches; and the losers operating from the opposition benches; while preparing for the next election”. The lack of recognition of this role by the stakeholders constitutes another serious challenge. Parliament must be seen by all the stakeholders in the multi-part political dispensation, that it is indeed relevant, and responsive to their needs.
The “rules of competition” of multi-party politics, require that when the parliamentary elections are concluded, political competition transfers directly to the floor of Parliament; where such competition continues to take place between “the winners who took office occupying the government benches; and the losers operating from the opposition benches; while preparing for the next election”. The lack of recognition of this role by the stakeholders constitutes another serious challenge. Parliament must be seen by all the stakeholders in the multi-part political dispensation, that it is indeed relevant, and responsive to their needs.
This perhaps needs a little more elaboration, especially in the special circumstances of Tanzania, where, in all Parliamentary elections which have been held during the period under discussion, (commencing with the 1995 first multi-party general election, when the ruling party scored 80.17% of the total number of parliamentary seats), the Opposition parties have consistently obtained less than a third of the Parliamentary seats available at the relevant time. This situation has led some detractors to suggest that our multi-party Parliament “cannot be effective because it is so overwhelmingly dominated by MPs of the ruling party CCM”. However, such assertions are inherently mischievous; because they overlook the plain fact that all election results are the tangible expressions of the wishes of the electorate. I referred above to the problem of “unsubstantiated election complaints”. I had in mind the kind of complaints which, even the complainants themselves appear to feel that they lack merit, and therefore cannot succeed; such as the wild assertions that their votes “were stolen” . It is my humble submission that votes cannot be stolen, simply because the voting system is so closely supervised, at every stage, either by the competing candidates themselves; or their chosen and trusted representatives. Any attempt to ‘steal votes’ cannot succeed.
Our Parliament was carefully designed to be effective.
I had the good fortune of being the Speaker who supervised our Parliament’s transition to the multi-party system; and can remember the great amount of efforts that we invested in crafting the ‘Standing Rules and Orders’ which would properly guide the operations of Parliament under the multi-party dispensation in order to make it ‘ appear to be’ genuinely “efficient and effective” to all the stakeholders. And, I sincerely believe, we succeeded.
piomsekwa@gmail.com /0754767576.
Our Parliament was carefully designed to be effective.
I had the good fortune of being the Speaker who supervised our Parliament’s transition to the multi-party system; and can remember the great amount of efforts that we invested in crafting the ‘Standing Rules and Orders’ which would properly guide the operations of Parliament under the multi-party dispensation in order to make it ‘ appear to be’ genuinely “efficient and effective” to all the stakeholders. And, I sincerely believe, we succeeded.
piomsekwa@gmail.com /0754767576.
Source: Daily News and Cde Msekwa yesterday.
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