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CCM, Govt urged to get opposition closer
2007-12-10 09:09:31
By Judica Tarimo
Democracy and good governance in Tanzania will thrive faster if the government involves opposition parties and other players more in decision-making on major national issues, a survey by The Guardian shows.
The survey was made at the weekend to coincide with yesterday`s commemoration of the 46th anniversary of mainland Tanzania`s Independence.
Respondents included a long-serving university don and political commentator and an opposition party leader, both highly knowledgeable about the democratisation process in the country.
Prof Mwesiga Baregu of the University of Dar es Salaam`s Political Science Department, was of the view that the country was slowly retreating in democratisation mainly because the government had become less committed to its enhancement over time.
``Tanzania`s politics is still disjointed, hesitant and top-controlled, with the political authorities not ready to move with the pace of political changes in the country and other parts of the world,``he said.
``Hardly anything is being done to review the country’s old-fashioned Constitution, repeal the discriminative political laws in use and set up an independent national electoral commission,`` he added.
The overhaul of the Constitution has for years been one of the opposition camp`s most popular demands but the government has always insisted that there is no need for the comprehensive review recommended for now.
Prof Baregu said the high level of democracy the Tanzanian public would like to see is impossible to attain unless the government ``gets more flexible and works a lot more aggressively on the constitutional and other fundamental issues affecting the majority of our people``.
``There is still a chance for the government to recapture the public confidence it has been losing if it implements the recommendations made by Judge Nyalali Commission report, including the need to rewrite the Constitution, repeal all discriminatory laws, and facilitate the formation of an independent national electoral commission,`` he pointed out.
The professor, who commonly comments on political developments in Tanzania and internationally, said it was important to sensitise and mobilise wananchi on the need to support ``progressive efforts and initiatives to foster and consolidate genuine democracy``.
``I am sure that, even by merely implementing some of the (Judge Nyalali Commission`s) recommendations, we will witness greater and faster democratisation unrivalled in Africa in the next few years,`` he noted.
Prof Baregu described the government`s ``rigidity and conservative style of administration`` as a serious impediment to the development of the democratisation process in the country.
He added: ``The government has been curiously reluctant to accommodate or embrace the opposition as a political development partner. There are indications that the country is going backwards on the democratisation scale instead of moving forward.``
However, he admitted that the change from the single-party political system to multiparty politics produced ``laudable gains crucial to the country`s social, economic and overall development``.
``The opening up of domestic politics to more players than just those in the ruling party is one of the major positive measures ever taken by government since Independence. It is a proud landmark in the country’s political history,`` he said.
Tanzania Centre for Democracy Chairman John Cheyo, who is also Bariadi legislator and national chairman of the opposition United Democratic Party, said he saw the switch to multiparty politics as ``indicative of enhancement of democracy in our country.
He added: ``But there are still very clear hurdles hampering the growth and enjoyment of genuine democracy. The ruling CCM is reluctant to involve the opposition in the country`s decision-making processes.``
Cheyo explained that the development of genuine democracy in the country ``has stuck somewhere in the middle because of CCM’s wrong perceptions about the role of the opposition``.
He charged that some CCM leaders have been adopting deliberate actions and strategies aimed at weakening the opposition camp.
``The government and other political stakeholders should separately and if possible jointly devise more appropriate strategies of enhancing democracy to enable more members of the public to contribute to national development efforts,`` he added.
Cheyo said that was only possible if there is a mechanism by which to better appreciate the role of opposition in decision-making bodies``.
``Unless CCM leaders change their mindsets and accept the opposition camp as a partner in nation-building and development, the growth of democracy in the country will remain a dream,``he noted further.
He said there was huge potential for the country`s democracy to grow appreciably `on condition that the CCM government puts national interests before parochial party ones`.
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