The fundamental problem facing democracy in Tanzania is not the existence of multiple political parties. It is the willingness of those in power to accept and respect the principles upon which such a system is built.
We should stop discussing the 1992 decision to restore multiparty politics as though it were, by itself, an extraordinary act of wisdom by those who governed at that time.
The more important question is this:
Were those in power truly prepared to accept the meaning - and the consequences - of the system they introduced?
The reality is that Tanzania restored multiparty politics without undertaking the deep structural, ideological, constitutional and administrative reforms necessary for such a system to function properly.
Constitutionally, we still operate under the 1977 Constitution, which was drafted in the context of a one-party political system. Although it has since been amended to accommodate multiparty politics, its institutional foundations and distribution of powers continue to raise questions about its ability to support genuinely competitive democracy.
Ideologically, perhaps the greater challenge lies in a political culture developed under decades of one-party rule.
CCM, as the party that has remained in power since the restoration of multiparty politics, therefore faces a fundamental question:
Is it prepared to accept the possibility of electoral defeat and hand over power to another political party?
That is the very essence of a multiparty system.
Political parties compete through ideas, policies, persuasion and the consent of the people. In any genuine competition, there must be the possibility of both victory and defeat.
No political party should possess a permanent right to govern.
To accept multiparty politics while rejecting the possibility of losing is to accept the name of democracy without accepting its meaning.
Structurally and administratively, state institutions must be independent and must serve all citizens - not the interests of whichever political party happens to be in power.
The Police, the Electoral Commission, the Judiciary and other public institutions should operate according to the Constitution, the law and the principles of justice, without political favour or bias.
Our challenge, therefore, is not the number of political parties we have.
The challenge is to build a political system that permits fair competition and the peaceful transfer of leadership.
We cannot claim to practice multiparty democracy while continuing to operate with a one-party mentality, a Constitution inherited from the one-party era, and institutions that are accused of serving the interests of one political party.
Ultimately, the important question is not who introduced multiparty politics to Tanzania in 1992.
The real question is:
Are those who govern us prepared to accept that citizens have the right to elect them, reject them and remove them from power through the ballot box?
Without that political will, multiparty politics will remain a system that exists in law while continuing to encounter serious obstacles in practice.
True democracy is not merely the willingness to accept victory.
It is also the willingness to accept defeat.
N.B.
The above article originally appeared in Swahili in the WhatsApp group “TZs for Dual Citizenship” and was written by Dr. Shaaban Fundi - a Tanzanian living in the United States whose writings consistently reflect a deep concern for, and a strong desire to see the very best for his motherland - Tanzania. The English version published here is a translation by ZNK. We have made every effort to preserve Dr. Shaaban’s original meaning, argument and tone as faithfully as possible. Should any part of our translation unintentionally depart from the idea or emphasis intended by Dr. Shaaban, we humbly apologize to him.
/ZNK
