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Registrar sees flaws in law on political parties
2008-03-14 09:23:33
By Judica Tarimo
Political Parties Registrar John Tendwa has once again admitted that deficiencies in the law governing political parties in Tanzania are a serious impediment to the democratisation process.
In remarks at a meeting in Dar es Salaam yesterday discussing the 1992 Political Parties Act, he said one consequence of the deficiencies was inadequate active and equal participation of all parties in the process.
The registrar cited lack of subsidies for political parties during election campaigns as one of the most salient shortcomings in the Act.
He said financial constraints commonly make some parties completely fail to reach prospective voters during the campaigns.
Under the 1992 law, only parties with representation in parliament and local governments get government subsidy, the amount given depending on the strength of the representation.
Tendwa said the Act has been long lined up for massive review, one of the proposed amendments being for all political parties to enjoy the subsidy.
He added that the law currently in use also stipulates that opposition parties seeking to form a coalition must follow the highly demanding procedure of registering a political party.
``Changes are needed in the law to allow parties to form coalitions without having to follow the same procedure they followed in the course of registering themselves. Their mission will be impossible unless the Act is reviewed,`` he noted.
The registrar said the draft bill bearing the proposed amendments had already been presented to the cabinet for appropriate further action.
He gave no hint as to when the cabinet would meet to discuss it, only saying that was a matter for the government to decide.
He said he would be happy if the revised law became more gender-sensitive ``so as to make it possible for more women to hold leadership positions and reduce the excessive dominance of men in political parties``.
Contributing to the debate, human rights activist Tundu Lissu from the opposition Chadema said he wanted to see the revised law consider giving a flat-rate subsidy to all registered parties, regardless of the nature of their representation in parliament.
He also observed that the law now in operation does not guarantee political parties enough or equal freedom to organise demonstrations and political rallies.
The law allows parties to hold rallies but with police permission, he said, elaborating: ``Holding public rallies is a constitutional right of all political parties. We want the new law to clearly provide for that right, with the police merely charged with ensuring security at the rallies.``
Lissu, a prominent lawyer, said the appointment of the registrar by the President and that of the other senior officials in the registrar`s office by a government minister, as stipulated in the current law, were unfair and unacceptable under multiparty politics.
He said that, by being a presidential appointee, the registrar would automatically be inclined to be accountable to the President.
``That would make him fail to be impartial, confident and independent in executing his duties. We propose that the registrar`s appointment be scrutinized and endorsed by the Parliament,`` he argued.
National League for Democracy chairman Emmanuel Makaidi meanwhile recommended that the amended law on political parties disqualify army and state intelligence officers from joining politics or holding any senior public leadership positions.
``The clause in the current Act stating that a political party is a group of `people` united for political mission should be replaced with one referring to `civilians`. This is because the word `people` includes army officers and state intelligence officers, who are not allowed to engage in politics,`` he said.
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