Lissu faults Election Bill for failing to make meaningful reforms

Dar es Salaam. Opposition Chadema’s deputy chairperson Tundu Lissu, slammed the new election bill yesterday, which he said will have no significant changes to the current voting environment.

The government last month tabled in Parliament three bills related to the general election, the national electoral commission and the affairs of political parties.

The bills propose some changes and merge two previous laws.

However, Mr Lissu, who was speaking during a virtual meeting to analyse the bill for the election of president, parliamentarians, and councillors, said it did not respond to the demands of the opposition and civil society.

The opposition parties and members of the public have been demanding an independent electoral commission, whose officials are currently appointed by the president, allowing independent candidates in elections and banning government officials from supervising voting.

The opposition parties have also been complaining of being “mistreated” during campaigns and voting, prompting their demand for a new constitution and electoral reforms.

“The election bill does not respond to any of our demands to ensure free and fair elections,” said Mr Lissu, who ran for the presidential seat in 2020 through the main opposition, Chadema.

“We have a responsibility to demand more reforms in our electoral system, which has never been perfect since the start of multiparty elections. What happened in this bill is to consolidate the laws by carrying the same content as the old laws,” said Mr Lissu, who described the situation as “shifting poisons to a new container.”

“We have been complaining of the use of district executive officers as returning officers in their areas, but nothing has changed. We have been demanding an independent electoral commission that will have independent servants who will register voters all the time, but nothing will change under these bills,” he said.

The three bills that will be deliberated before being assented into law after the second reading are expected to make some changes.

Among the notable changes included in the NEC Bill is the appointment of the five commissioners of the electoral body after they have applied for advertised vacancies and undergone scrutiny before a committee of interviewees.

The committee, according to the document, will be formed by the Chief Justice (CJ), who will serve as chairperson, and Zanzibar’s Chief Justice (ZCJ), who will be the vice chairperson.

“The Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) chairperson and vice chairperson will respectively serve as committee members.

The fifth remaining member will be appointed by the President based on the gender category,” reads the bill, noting that the director of elections will be the interview committee secretary. However, the appointment of the NEC chairperson and vice chairman remains unchanged because it is a stipulation of the constitution.

Likewise, the bill says that the director of elections will also be appointed by the President after being nominated by the Commission and that the NEC chief executive should possess several qualifications, including being a senior officer in the public service.

The President, parliamentarians and councillors Bill is a new law introduced following the merger of the National Election Act and the Local Authorities (Elections) Act.

The bill has come with a condition abolishing the usual practice of declaring the sole candidates for parliamentarians and councillors to have won the positions unopposed. Instead, the bill wants the sole candidates to be voted on and that he or she will be declared the winner after collecting many votes from the legal ballots.

Mr Lissu said the move, together with merging the laws, are the only changes.