The wave of electoral law changes sweeping across East Africa
and meant to favour incumbents appears to be gathering speed in
Tanzania.
Chemba MP Juma Nkamia is next month expected
to table a motion before Parliament to extend presidential terms from
five to seven years, as is the case in Rwanda.
The
law amendment is widely seen as a testing ground in favour of extending
President John Magufuli’s tenure. He is currently serving his first
term.
A political showdown is looming, with the
opposition Chadema MP John Heche planning to separately table in
Parliament a counter private motion to reduce the presidential term to
four years, as is the case in the US.
The outcome of the contest is expected to have a bearing on the country’s constitution review that has stalled since 2015.
Mr Nkamia’s move comes weeks after another MP Stephen Ngonyani said President Magufuli should rule for 20 years.
In
July a politician from the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) Laurence
Mabawa, started a social media campaign dubbed “Baki Magufuli” (Stay
Magufuli) and said he would travel across the country to have President
Magufuli’s tenure in office extended.
President Mwinyi
The
seeds for the agitation to extend Magufuli’s appear to have been laid
in April when a former President Ali Hassan Mwinyi said that a law
allowing President Magufuli to extend his tenure in office for four
terms should be considered. The former president said the incumbent
needed this to continue installing discipline in the civil service and
enhance access to healthcare.
“If it wasn’t for term limits, I would have suggested that Magufuli should be our president for eternity,” he said.
Two
months later, a section of residents from Geita in northwestern
Tanzania, where the president comes from called for amendments to the
Constitution to allow him to serve for 20 years.
Opposition
The
opposition Chadema party believes the president is behind the campaign
that is gaining momentum but Dr Magufuli has repeatedly said at public
rallies that he would respect the Constitution and step down after
serving his two terms in office.
The opposition also
sees the moves by ruling party legislators as part of an attempt to set
the agenda for the stalled Constitution review that was abandoned in the
run up to the October 2015 election that saw President Magufuli succeed
Jakaya Kikwete.
“We will be surprised if the agenda
is discussed in parliament because the discussion since 2012 has been a
new Constitution, not extension of term limit. If the president hasn’t
sent the MP to push for such an agenda, he should come out to resist
such calls,” said Chadema’s director of protocol, communication,
ideology and foreign affairs John Mrema.
Chadema fears
the country could be plunged into political chaos if Mr Nkamia tables
the motion as was witnessed in Uganda two weeks ago when a motion to
remove presidential age limits was introduced in Parliament.
“Such
calls are dangerous for national security. We don’t want to pursue the
Uganda route but we want a new constitution that would set a precedent
as that in Kenya when the Supreme Court invalidated President Uhuru
Kenyatta’s win on August 8 over electoral malpractices,” said Mr Mrema.
However,
the ruling Jubilee party in Kenya is pushing changes that would make it
harder for a presidential election to be allowed on account of
technicalities without due regard to the numbers the winning
presidential candidate garnered.
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