The President’s Open Letter: Incrementalism and inclusivity

President Samia Suluhu Hassan wrote an open letter to Tanzanians, congratulating them as the country marked three decades of multipartism experiment. The Head of State rightly noted the challenging circumstances through which the country re-introduced multipartism and the wisdom of the leaders of the day to adopt something the majority of the people had rejected, saying they wanted the country to continue being a one-party state.

The unknown can lead to great anxieties and trepidation.

As expected, there were different views about the contents of the open letter. There are those who commended the President for penning a letter, outlining her commitment to changing the country for the better; that the letter is another testament to her continued efforts to this end. Some, enthusiastically, went as far as claiming (inaccurately) that no other President in the past has ever done what she did with that open letter. To others, though not dismissive of the President’s open letter, they sidestepped it and pointed to things they wish she had invested more time and action in making them happen, saying that her ‘four Rs’ were only promises which can only be tangible with a new constitution and a return to public rallies.

The views, the reactions to the President’s open letter are insightful on how different political players view her stewardship of the country.

‘The details of a matter are its most problematic aspect’, so goes a saying. The president’s open letter was met with either support or mild observations, nothing critical or dismissive even though she did not offer anything new or groundbreaking in it. In previous occasions, the president has said that any recommendations for reforms brought before her must keep in mind what she has said is “our circumstances”, that those recommending any reforms should not present them before her fully knowing that she will reject them because they poorly reflect or completely do not reflect the circumstances of our country. However, any reforms, by their very nature imply that they intend to fundamentally alter the status quo.

The views expressed for her open letter, point to a continued political honeymoon despite the many challenges she is currently facing. Only one of her predecessors in the multiparty era, enjoyed a longer political honeymoon than her. There are many things which point to a country still enchanted by her political charm offensive. He came to power at a time when the country was so united in the prospects of a better future to the point even political opponents struggled to find anything negative to say or any matter to criticize about.

The open letter also point to a president who is increasingly becoming an intriguing political character. Like some of her multiparty predecessors, for better or for worse, there is a tendency to view her apart from the ruling party, CCM, the party she chairs as if she operates in a political vacuum. While the open letter is in line with what President Samia has demonstrated so far in her stewardship of the country, it is also instructive to view much of what she does in relation to the political winds within CCM. CCM have issued statements of support in the president’s efforts to reconcile the country and even suggested that the government should look at avenues to revamp the new constitution project.

The president’s open letter touched on general matters, avoiding any controversies which could derail the message she intended to deliver. By referencing the past struggles of the re-introducing multipartism to the point of overriding the will of the majority at the time, who wanted the country to stay with the one-party rule, and equating the current challenges faced by the country to the struggles and challenges which faced the generation which led to a return of multipartism, she was hinting at arriving at some decisions to the challenges facing the country today through the same mindset.

That consensus-building is far more important than short term political gains. In a previous occasion, President Samia spoke of ‘walking together’ to make it far, as opposed to walking faster than the rest, where one ends up ahead and alone, with those left behind exhausted. She wants all to own the process regardless of some of the fundamental differences.

In short, the open letter was about a president who, like all who came before her in these thirty years of multipartism believes in incrementalism regardless of the many forces pulling and pushing in different directions. Viewed from such a prism, the president has succeeded in selling her vision of the future despite some skepticism from some quarters.

While details are still sketchy, almost everyone feels like they share in a blurry, slowly crystallizing vision of a country they want.

Now, that is political gold.