Judge Mutungi is right: Democracy

This was a response Judge Mutungi came up with in relation to continuing disquiet on the state of political organisations and freedoms, on account of the rather intense application of the ruling party campaign motto. It is now becoming a policy that 'work' has to be overall concern, not politics.

There is an indirect admission by the Registrar that something is amiss in the current set-up, both in the legislature and in wider political organisation.

It is of course a bit of a problem if political rallies and meetings are translated purely and simply as election campaigns, instead of being part of stock taking, raising awareness and, unavoidably, programming a party for electoral activity on a familiar basis. They say in political science that ‘the end of one election is the start of another electoral process.’ The adage is true too for CCM.

In that case there is a sort of pursuit of advantage that political contention should come down a little so that more progress can be realised in the areas which matter, namely project implementation in tandem with the expectations of the people.

Opposition parties worry that this unimpeded pursuit of the ruling party programnme, without checks and balances in relation to what is being done, is virtually a restoration of the one party situation, where no other agenda is aired or cultivated. They expect the Registrar to help restore the balance.

It is hard to say that the Registrar has actually promised to do anything big in that direction since, in the final analysis, he is a civil servant like any other.

When it comes to major political decisions what is at stake is the mandate that has been entrusted to the president, and looking a bit closely into the issue, let it be said that none of these things is surprising.

There were all sorts of nicknames attached to the CCM presidential candidate, and one familiar tag is 'bulldozer,' akin to saying: 'Don't stand in my way' in changing the country.

What is to be learned from the remarks by Judge Mutungi is that political parties will be wrong to think that there is a deficit of democracy only in top state leadership, or signs of the sort, and fail to recognise that the condition is more entrenched, even in their own activity.

There are complaints about the manner in which the boycotting of Deputy Speaker Dr Tulia Ackson was decided and is being carried out, and whether there are no alternative ways of expressing displeasure without disrupting parliamentary work. It's a problem.

Looking at it in Judge Mutungi's way, the current standoff in Parliament is a major problem not because of the particular interpretation of standing orders and their specific clauses, which may undeniably be biased in favour of the majority in the House and specifically its Executive branch.

He is saying that the mode of reaction was itself a problem, as it made that issue fundamental whereas it is optional, and such use of discretion is within the broad mandate of the Speaker or whoever leads House sessions. Thus it is part of democracy.

Perhaps the point that ought to be grasped as explaining the current standoff is that there has often been undemocratic gestures and ways of doing things both in Parliament and outside it, which is actually inviting a debate in the leading opposition party right now. Reports say the top leadership or rather the Central Committee of Chadema is torn between a usually agitating way of doing things, and what others now call a civilised method that focuses on applying rules and regulations, tactically. Judge Mutungi is saying that this should be the way to do things, not to favour confrontations.