Chadema plans peaceful demonstrations against electoral bills

Dar es Salaam. The opposition party, Chadema, has urged the Tanzanian government to withdraw the three electoral bills submitted to Parliament on November 10, 2023, and instead present a bill that makes minimum reforms to the 1977 Constitution to ensure free and fair elections.

The Central Committee of Chadema has also called on the government to take measures to ease the high cost of living in Tanzania.

Chadema chairman Freeman Mbowe has warned that if the government fails to consider their proposals, the party will hold a peaceful demonstration starting on January 24 in Dar es Salaam.

The aim of the demonstration is to pressure the government to consider the opinions and suggestions of various stakeholders on the bills.

Mr Mbowe stressed that the government should submit a bill to Parliament to resolve the process of the new constitution, along with a roadmap of each step until a new constitution is found based on the national framework.

He explained that the Central Committee of Chadema called for an emergency meeting on January 8 this year to discuss the three bills, including the electoral bill, political party, and national electoral commission.

These bills were submitted to parliament and read for the first time on November 10, 2023.

The proposed demonstrations will also focus on the high cost of living in Tanzania.

He noted that various stakeholders, including political parties, civil societies, and religious leaders, among others, submitted their opinions on the three bills.

However, the Chadema general secretary, Mr John Mnyika, was not allowed to present the views and position of the party before the Parliamentary Committee.

Instead, he was asked to read the analysis of the articles one by one, indicating that the committee had already made a decision and did not want to listen to opinions outside the relevant articles of the bills.

Mr Mbowe emphasised that the government should withdraw the constitutional shortcomings because the laws are drafted according to the constitution, which currently has many shortcomings that affect the laws that are going to be enacted.

He also called for a bill to be submitted to Parliament that would give the National Electoral Commission the authority to manage local government elections rather than being managed by the President's Office - Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG) according to the rules that the minister formulates.

Furthermore, he suggested that the Political Parties Law Amendment Bill as amended in 2019 and the Election Expenses Law should be removed because they do not solve the existing challenges.

In addition, the bill has not taken into account the orders of the East African Court, where some articles were ordered to be reviewed because they violated the East African Convention.

Regarding the high cost of living, he said that the government should reduce taxes and fees on essential goods and services for citizens.

He also suggested stopping the use of luxury items that are not important so that the money could be used to improve the lives of Tanzanians.

He called on the government to take action against corruption in the country and to submit a plan and strategy that would reduce the high cost of living, including lowering the price of essential products or putting subsidies on some products.

For his part, chief government spokesman Mobhare Matinyi said the bills were sent to parliament in the normal way, and stakeholders were allowed to express their views to improve where there were shortcomings.

He added that citizens and stakeholders should give their opinions and suggestions to strengthen and maintain democracy.