By Katare Mbashiru in Dodoma
PARLIAMENT
yesterday endorsed the Political Parties (Amendment Act), 2018 bill,
two weeks after an attempt to block it from being tabled in the House by
Opposition leaders flopped at the High Court in Dar es Salaam.
According to the
Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (Policy, Parliamentary
Affairs,
Labour, Employment Youth and the Disabled), Jenista Mhagama,
the government had considered views from stakeholders prior to tabling
of the bill.
There was a
tug-of-war between the opposition lawmakers and those from the ruling
CCM, as the former insisted that if passed by Members of Parliament, the
bill would curtail democracy in the country.
But all CCM
legislators who debated the bill showered praise on the government for
coming up with the bill, saying it was long overdue and that by passing
it, the country would open a new chapter of democracy within all
registered political parties in the country.
There has been
mounting pressure from opposition leaders and activists in the country
over the amendment of the legislation, with majority of them saying,
among other things, that the registrar of political parties had been
given huge discretionary powers that were likely to kill democracy in
the country.
Some opposition
leaders led by ACT Wazalendo party leader Zitto Kabwe went ahead to file
a petition in court to block the bill from being tabled in parliament
for the second and third reading.
However, on January 14, the high court rejected the constitution petition on the grounds that it lacked merits.
In the petition,
the petitioners had requested the court to declare the Bill for
amendments of the Political Parties (Amendments) Act, 2018, published as
Special Bill Supplement in the Gazette of the United Republic of
Tanzania on October 16, 2018 unconstitutional, null and void.
But Judge Benhajj
Masoud ruled against the ACT-Wazalendo Party Leader , CUF Deputy
Secretary General (Mainland) Joran Bashange and his Director of
Communications Salum Bimani, upholding two grounds of objections by the
Attorney General (AG).
Tabling the bill
for the second and third reading in the House yesterday, the Minister of
State in the Prime Minister's Office (Policy, Parliamentary Affairs,
Labour, Employment Youth and the Disabled), Jenista Mhagama said the
government had incorporated several crucial amendments that were
proposed by a parliamentary Committee on Justice and Constitution after
the committee collected views from all stakeholders.
According to the
minister, in the new proposed amendments, any person or institution
inside or outside the country with an intention to provide civic
education to political parties will now be required by law to notify the
registrar of political parties in a bid to monitor the education
provided and encourage patriotism, national unity and avoid education
that is likely to sow seeds of discord and eventually disrupt the
country's peace.
In the proposed
amendments, political parties will now be compelled to abide by both the
constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania and that of Zanzibar,
observe gender balance and consider disability groups.
If the bill is
endorsed, anyone who wants to establish and register a political party
will have to be a citizen of Tanzania and his/her parents should possess
Tanzanian citizenship. The new section triggered a fierce debate in
parliament yesterday with the opposition spokesperson and Kawe MP Halima
Mdee saying it was unconstitutional.
Plus, political
parties will now be required to submit to the registrar, their parties'
register that will include the register of national party leaders and
those of the board of trustees so as to enable the office of the
registrar to have all crucial information of political parties.
Section 8E in the
new amendments has banned political parties from having security guards
and refrain from conducting security training so as to avoid parties
from interfering with the country's security organs.
In the new
amendments, the registrar can now conduct verification of political
parties and parties will be required to submit to the registrar their
declarations on income and expenditure.
During
contributions yesterday, Mbinga MP Sixtus Mapunda (CCM) welcomed the new
amendments, saying they would help in strengthening democracy within
political parties and avoid some parties from being treated as
Non-Governmental Organisations.
"This bill will
help our parties that have been undemocratic for 26 years since the
country was transformed into a multi-party democracy," he remarked.
He was backed by
Susan Kolimba (Special Seats-CCM) who said by having political parties'
registers of leaders and board of trustees submitted to the registrar,
it was evident that good governance would be embraced within political
parties.
But Kawe MP Halima
Mdee was against the ban of security guards within political parties,
saying the opposition parties had a benefit of doubt in the country's
security organs which she said were not neutral when it came to
maintaining security to parties during elections.
She suggested that the provision which bans political parties from having their own security machineries be scrapped.
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