Dar es Salaam. On Tuesday, the opposition party CHADEMA responded to a call from the Office of the Party Registrar in the country, which sought clarification from the centre-right party regarding its ‘No Reform, No Election’ agenda in connection with the upcoming general elections.
CHADEMA has been vocal lately, stating that the existing legal and regulatory frameworks in Tanzania do not guarantee that the general elections slated for October this year will be conducted in a free and fair manner. The party, under its ‘No Reform, No Election’ banner, is demanding that the government undertake reforms to change the current status.
The party is not saying that it will boycott the elections; instead, it argues that it will mobilise its supporters and members of the general public to prevent the elections from taking place. The party’s leadership has insisted that authorities should use the available time to implement the requested reforms or risk postponing the elections.
CHADEMA’s Secretary-General, John Mnyika, flanked by his deputies for Tanzania Mainland, Amani Gulugwa, and Zanzibar, Ally Ibrahim, arrived at the Registrar’s Office at 10 AM for a meeting that lasted about four hours. The party’s lawyer, Dr Rugemeleza Nshala, was also part of the delegation.
Addressing journalists shortly after the meeting, Mr Mnyika stated that his delegation reiterated CHADEMA’s demands to the Office of the Party Registrar, urging it, as the ‘guardian’ of political parties, to find ways to ensure that the reforms CHADEMA is calling for are implemented to create a level playing field during elections
“Tanzania’s electoral systems have never been independent since the reintroduction of the multiparty system in the country,” Mr Mnyika said. “Authorities are yet to implement the recommendations of the Nyalali Commission and have refused to revive the constitution-writing process, which would remedy these shortcomings.”
The Nyalali Commission was established in 1991 by the late President Ali Hassan Mwinyi to assess public opinion on whether Tanzania should transition from a single-party system to a multiparty democracy. It proposed key constitutional and legal measures to transform the country into a truly multiparty democracy, many of which, it is widely believed, remain unimplemented.
Mnyika stated that elections cannot be allowed to proceed when authorities have failed to act on the recommendations of the President’s own task force on political pluralism, which include amending key electoral laws and reviving the stalled constitution-writing process. Although the government amended the said laws, critics argue that the changes fell short of expectations.
“We presented these concerns to the Office of the Party Registrar, and they assured us that they have understood our position,” Mr Mnyika said. “Now, we will organise rallies across the country to inform our members and the general public about this issue and explain why they need to support our call for genuine and meaningful reforms.”
The reforms that CHADEMA is advocating for include the minimum constitutional reforms that Tanzania’s key democratic actors, meeting under the auspices of the Tanzania Centre for Democracy (TCD), agreed to pursue on August 23, 2023. This decision was made after they realised that the available time was too limited to complete the constitution-writing process.
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Stakeholders resolved to incorporate into the current constitution provisions allowing for an independent electoral commission and independent candidacy. Additionally, they agreed that the constitution should permit presidential elections to be challenged in court and require a presidential candidate to secure at least 51 per cent of the vote to be declared the winner.
A few months before the general elections, CHADEMA, a member of TCD—a non-profit political parties’ membership organization dedicated to enhancing multiparty democracy in the country—expressed concern that authorities are unlikely to implement these reforms. This has necessitated efforts to compel them to take action.
“We decided to meet with the Party Registrar as part of our efforts to achieve this goal,” Mr Mnyika told journalists. “Regardless of how our discussions with authorities unfold, we will continue to push for these demands. We will also urge Tanzanians to join us in calling for these reforms and advocating for fair and just electoral systems.”
