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THE OLD AND THE NEW DEMOCRACIES
Updated: Saturday, 23 October 2000 DAR ES SALAAM - Oct. 19 -- Tanzanians are increasingly questioning the wisdom of chucking out the baby with the bathwater. Five years ago, with their economy in tatters, Tanzanians were forced to embrace multi-party democracy to replace many years of one party-rule by the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party. They did so under pressure from donors who insisted that the western system of democracy must be adopted by the developing world. Scant, if any, attention was paid to the warts still bedeviling western democracies. Nor, more importantly, was any heed paid to the circumstances of a particular country and what had prevailed before. There were no lessons to be learned from history the donors almost said. It was western demands -- and ignorance -- that prevailed. Tanzania's electoral system in the one party era was both imperfect and occasionally irritating. But there was much to learn from it. The two contestants (both from the CCM party) had to travel together in transport supplied by the party, sleep in the same room and eat from the same plate in case one tried to poison the other. Most did not become closer friends as a result of their shared experience. On the contrary, they frequently became bitter enemies as they were increasingly exposed to each other's shortcomings. Nor did the electorate necessarily support the CCM incumbent. In the 1965 election, Tanzania's first as a single-party state, three cabinet ministers, seven deputy ministers and over 60 backbench Members of Parliament lost their seats. The campaign lasted for six weeks, opposing candidates appeared on a joint platform and the CCM funded and provided all campaign posters. CCM monitors were in place at all times to ensure would-be candidates abided by the rules. Failure to do so could result in a candidate being thrown out of the campaign. From that joint platform the candidates could not promise, as is the way of politicians worldwide, that if voted into power they could do this or that for the electorate. Nor, which is certainly positive, could they discuss their opponents' gender, religion or ethnic background. And, at all times, it was compulsory to use the country's national language, Swahili, so that the candidate from another part of the country was not disadvantaged by their opponent using a local vernacular. By and large the system worked and parts of it provide an object lesson in the dirty world of politics where anything goes. The western multi-party system has spawned a new breed of politicians (as well as diplomats and journalists) who are younger and often unaware of the country's and the region's history. Winning a seat through promises of what they will do in the future, through donations and beer is now common. Money has become a vital tool for candidates, as is the case in many of the so-called western democracies. Money counts and buys votes. No longer is Swahili the lingua franca of the campaign as would-be politicians seek to capitalize on any perceived advantage. There is very little chance of a Christian being elected to parliament in a predominantly Muslim area or vice versa. And women candidates in this predominantly male bastion are severely disadvantaged, usually not even receiving the votes from the traditional rural women who are influenced by their men. Ethnicity and religion are rearing their ugly heads in a country of over 120 groupings where Tanzanians were previously united by a common language and a common identity. That factor alone set them apart in southern Africa where previously united people are increasingly being torn apart by ethnic and religious voting patterns. Tanzanians go to the polls on 29 October and thereafter the new members of parliament will take their places. One of their priorities should be to reconsider their history and adopt those aspects of the old electoral system that can be married with the new. Unless they do so Tanzania will be doomed to the same fate that has already befallen most of the developing world. [SARDC] This article can be reproduced with credit to SARDC and the author Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC) P O Box 5690, Harare Zimbabwe Tel: (2634) 738694-6 Fax: 738693 Email: sardc@sardc.net Website: www.sardc.net/sd/elections2000 |
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