Chadema, ACT: The tale of parties in their quest for survival

It is an open secret that the environment for doing politics for the opposition is not conducive currently. The very survival of several opposition political entities might be in danger.

Hence, one of the immediate tasks facing the opposition is crafting strategies that would make them remain relevant until the next elections and beyond. The strategies would have to include outreach programmes that enable them communicate with their base and reach the general populace.

The task is heavier for the bigger parties. To stay at the top is always difficult in any area of competition. Chadema, ACT-Wazalendo and CUF are the largest opposition political parties in Tanzania, with representation in the legislative assemblies.

Whether they will remain the largest parties by the time the country goes into the next elections depends largely on how they navigate the current uncharted political waters. And here the different strategies of the two parties deserve attention.

Given that the avenues for reaching out voters have been very constrained by the Political Parties (Amendment) Act of 2019, the three parties seem to have taken different approaches to deal with the situation.

Stipulation of the Act means that the remaining platform(s) that enable the opposition to speak to and for their base as well as influence policymaking are the legislative assemblies (the Union Parliament and the Zanzibar House of Representatives).

In fact opposition politicians have always used the legislative assemblies to make their voices heard and score credit with citizenry. Understandably, the ‘astounding’ defeat of the opposition in the October polls left them and many other observers in shock. Out of valid concerns over the conduct of the elections many political parties, including the major ones, rejected the results.

But ACT, upon further deliberation, decided otherwise. The party allowed its members who won in both Union Parliament and the Zanzibar House of Representative to take up their positions.

The party also allowed their Zanzibar Presidential candidate, Seif Sharif Hamad, to take up his constitutional position as the First Vice President of Zanzibar. Mr Hamad, also popularly known as Maalim Sef, summarized the party strategy in a statement he gave after he was sworn in as the First Vice President.

He said the party has chosen to continue the fight for democracy, human rights and for a better Zanzibar from within the system. He further explained that the party thinks that it can address concerns over gross violation of human rights of its members and other serious concerns from within and not from outside.

It is clear that some of the ACT members, especially the hardliners, were disappointed by party’s decision. Other opposition political parties, who chose to reject election results, might have also watched ACT’s moves with dismay.

But ACT’s is probably the smartest move by a political party in these times. Despite criticism, the decision is not a sign of giving up the fight. It is, as Seif himself said, a conscious decision to reshape the fight. And political analysts would agree that ACT’s move mainly helps the party remain relevant to guarantee that its voice will continue to be heard and give the party a fighting chance in the next elections.

On the contrary after refusing to accept results Chadema decided not to take up even the few parliamentary posts that its members won in the polls.

When 19 of its female members decided to take up the Special Seats positions constitutionally allocated to the party after gaining more than ten per cent of the presidential polls, Chadema ejected the poor women from the party.

But by refusing to join Parliament, Chadema effectively closed down all avenues and platforms that it could grab to remaining relevant.

The women who took up Special Seats positions in Chadema ticket are not just any women. They have proven and tested legislative experience, with some of them having led powerful Parliamentary teams in the past, such as the Public Accounts Committee.

Others, namely, Halima Mdee, Ester Bulaya and Ester Matiko have successfully fought political fights in the electoral trenches in the past, trouncing heavyweight ruling party candidates. They are smart, outspoken and they know how to navigate legislative complexities and House rules that are mainly designed to silence the opposition.

Their gender and minority position notwithstanding the MPs could have served as Chadema’s Trojan Horse in Parliament, so to speak. With good strategies and adequate coordination they could have helped Chadema remain relevant and its concerns over various issues made known to the people.

In short by disavowing the 19 MPs Chadema has forgone the most important platform it needed in these hard political times. But also what does the renunciation of 19 MPs say about Chadema’s priorities in giving women a voice in law making bodies?

Historians agree that Tanzania’s politics would have been different had the Tanganyika African National Union (Tanu) boycotted the 1958/59 polls. Conditions set by colonialists for elections were reasonably unacceptable. Had Tanu boycotted the polls, which is what colonialists had expected, everyone would have understood. But would we now be speaking of Tanzania as a single, viable entity or a balkanized territory? What is for sure is that had Tanu boycotted the polls something worse could have happened to this country. Mwalimu Julius Nyerere saw the trap and fought to avoid it.

The current situation is not exactly the same as that of 1950s but the lesson we learn from it is that political boycotting should be strategic. By the way why is it that the opposition has always been refusing to accept results only to end up participating in the next polls?

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Damas Kanyabwoya is a journalist based in Dar es Salaam