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| Leaders of Tanzania's main opposition party during Central Committee's meeting in Dodoma Yesterday |
By Our Correspondent, Dodoma TANZANIA
Tanzania's main opposition party Chama cha
Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) has on Thursday said it would
boycott the ongoing civic electoral process citing unbearable controversy and
irregularities that disqualified 90% of their contesters countrywide and
favoured the ruling party (CCM).
The decision came on
the heels of reports of massive locking out of opposition contesters across the
country in favour of the ruling party, contesters who would pass “unopposed.”
Election Returning
Officers have disqualified thousands of opposition candidates over reasons their
parties says are flimsy and orchestrated.
They include not
writing full names, misspellings, blank spaces, improper forms, being drunkard,
proper dates among others. Many more could not get forms as officials were a no
show.
Freeman Mbowe, Chairman
of the CHADEMA party, told a press conference after a day-long consultative
meeting with the party’s Central Committee in Dodoma City that his party can no
longer take part in elections where democracy is being taken hostage.
"There is concerns
over open violations of the electoral process by those entrusted with
overseeing it, leading to almost all our nominees being, allegedly, unfairly
removed from the list of contesters countrywide," he said.
He claimed that this
was, however, not the case for those contesting on the ticket of the ruling
party (CCM), some of whom have started celebrating sailing through unopposed.
Mbowe told reporters
that they had made massive efforts to make sure that their members contest
every village and streets’ leadership positions. “But with what has happened, I
direct you to withdraw from participating in this unfair election supervised by
CCM” He said.
"It's a sham
exercise and the level of brazen irregularities cannot be tolerated.”
He
said it was now the time for a free and independent electoral commission to be
established to steer the democratic process away from partisan interests that jeopardise
the wellbeing of nationhood.
Some weeks ago, CHADEMA
Chairman assured the country that the party would not boycott the civic
elections because of the challenges associated with the process.
“We have to face the
challenges, and even though CCM lies to itself that it will rig this elections,
the country does not have the personnel to police every village,” he said.
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| File picture shows a supporter of main opposition party CHADEMA |
However, Mbowe noted
that the party would also react differently depending on the prevailing
situation.
The Minister of State
in the president’s office, Selemani Jafo, whose office is coordinating the
civic electoral process showed concern over boycott decision by the leading
opposition party terming the move as distracting people from exercising their
civic rights.
“I have heard that one
opposition party has decided to boycott participation in the forthcoming civic
elections, this move will deny the citizens their right to elect their leaders”
said Jafo adding that all aggrieved contesters were supposed to appeal against
their nullification to the respective bodies.
He urged other
political parties to go on with election process.
The other opposition
political party, Alliance for Change and Transparency –
Wazalendo (ACT) also joined hands with CHADEMA claiming that they had seconded a
total of 355,424 to contest all positions countrywide but the Returning
Officers nullified 96% (341,2017) and clearing only 4% (14,217) on failure to
fill the forms properly.
The outspoken Member of Parliament
for Kigoma Urban, Zitto Kabwe, who is the ACT party leader said that what
Returning Officers have done against opposition parties is not acceptable. “How
a well-known party like ACT is being denied opportunity to participate in
elections? How come that only 4% of our members are approved for elections?”
He said that his party prepared
for more than four years to participate in the elections following President John
Magufuli’s directive to bar opposition parties from exercising their political
right until during elections.
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| Tanzania President, John Magufuli in a group picture with Ward Executive Officers and his political party leaders after a meeting in State House, Dar es Salaam City. The Ward Executive officers are the immediate returning officers supervising the ongoing civic election process |
A high ranking government officer
who asked for anonymity said that when the main opposition political party
like CHADEMA boycotts elections, it not only deprives that election of its
legitimacy but also lays a foundation for the unaccountable leadership. “There
will be a lack of push on the ‘leaders’ in serving their respective
constituents. Because no one elected them, the leaders will be exercising no
leadership at all.” He said.
He noted “Everywhere in
the world, experience shows that the more the political party is being
persecuted the more institutionalised it becomes. Far from destroying it,
repression against a political party ends up strengthening it. And that’s what is
happening in Tanzania today.”
In the 2015 general
elections in Tanzania, the current President, John Magufuli under CCM gunned 8,882,935 (58.46%) votes
followed by CHADEMA presidential candidate, Edward Lowassa who got 6,072,848
(39.97%) votes with ACT-Wazalendo candidate Anna Mghiwira scoring 98,763
(0.65%) votes.
In
the national assembly, the ruling CCM made up with 252 seats, CHADEMA had 70
seats, Civic United Front got 42 seats and ACT-Wazalendo holding one seat.
Rights
groups say the intimidation of political opponents has escalated sharply under
Magufuli, a strongman whose administration has wielded
wide-ranging laws to silence government critics.
Police
have broken up opposition gatherings and shut down Chadema meetings, the party
says.
Their
activists have been kidnapped and beaten, and at least one has blamed
authorities for an attack in 2017 which saw him shot multiple times. Several
have disappeared and turned up murdered. - Africa
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