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Tendwa supports plans for party mergers
2007-04-11 08:44:45
By Patrick Kisembo
The Registrar of Political Parties, John Tendwa, has supported the move by the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) and Tanzania Labour Party (TLP) to form a coalition ahead of the 2010 general elections.
CUF and TLP, which together with Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema) are the country`s key opposition parties, revealed at the TLP national executive committee meeting held in Dar es Salaam last week their intention to form an alliance.
“We must review the law to allow political parties to form coalitions because that will create an environment for parties to get stronger and more competitive,” said Tendwa in an exclusive interview with The Guardian on Thursday.
He said even now political parties in Tanzania are fully at liberty to work together “and that has given the three opposition sides a forum at which they have come up with plans to field commonly agreed candidates in constituency elections”.
“It is better for the law to be reviewed to allow political parties to merge as well as create an environment for them to work together for the benefit for democratic practice,” observed the registrar.
He said a bill to that effect had been sent to the government for further action, adding: “But do not ask me when it will be enacted, I have done my part and the government should be left to do its part.”
Delegates to last week`s TLP meeting called on the government to speed up the process of amending the law was completed, their party and CUF would unite.
TLP Chairman Augustine Mrema told The Guardian in a telephone interview after the meeting that his party had realised that chances of opposition parties winning elections were extremely slim if every party continued to stand alone.
He said there was a need for a merger of opposition parties if they were to oust the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi in the civic, parliamentary and presidential elections, including the next ones scheduled for 2010.
Tendwa was recently quoted as saying that the government was reviewing the law on political parties to allow mergers, adding that proposals for the amendments have already been submitted to the cabinet.
He said the Political Parties Act is silent on the possibility of political parties amalgamating or integrating their activities but noted: “We are reviewing the law so that political parties can be allowed to merge but that does not mean the aim is to defeat or oust CCM.”
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