By Elias Msuya
Dar es Salaam —
Stakeholders in law and good governance yesterday said the 11th
Parliament, under
Speaker Job Ndugai, was weak compared to previous
parliaments.
But, in a quick
rejoinder, the outgoing Speaker said the critics have no idea about
parliamentary rules, regulations and procedures.
"Let me assure you
that most Tanzanians do not understand the existing rules, laws and
regulations... , they are speaking out of emotions," Mr Ndugai told The
Citizen in a telephone interview.
"They also do not
understand parliamentary democracy globally, it is the majority who make
decisions and not the Speaker. So all the decisions that were made are
the ones most lawmakers decided."
Speaking during a
debate about the 11th parliament and prospects for the 12th one which
was organised by the Law and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) through Zoom,
veteran journalist Jenerali Ulimwengu said the 11th parliament had
failed to do its job.
"The 11th
Parliament, to me, completely failed... it failed to foresee development
management policies that are coordinated by the government," said Mr
Ulimwengu.
Mr Ulimwengu, who
served as a national member of Parliament from 1990 to 1995, also
referred to the attack on former Singida East MP Tundu Lissu on
September 7, 2017, saying it had tarnished Parliament.
"I never saw the Parliament being shocked or concerned about the incident... the Parliament largely ignored this," he said.
He also mentioned
the issue of some opposition MPs defecting - yet they continued being
recognised as MPs despite the Constitution requiring MPs to be members
of political parties.
"... How can a
person defect from the party that approved him/her to Parliament and
still be a Member of Parliament?" he queried.
The arguments were
echoed by the University of Dar es Salaam's political science lecturer,
Prof Mohamed Bakari, who said the assessment showed that the 11th
Parliament had lost status compared with other parliament since
Independence.
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