The National Electoral Commission (NEC), yesterday refused to rule out the use of extra force by police in some by-elections, saying such a move would depended on the nature of the constituency in question.

NEC director Rajabu Kiravu said there are a number of reasons which would have caused the electoral body to ask for deployment of extra police officers in some constituencies.

He was reacting to remarks made recently by CCM deputy chairman (Mainland), Mr Pius Msekwa, who decried arbitrary use of force by state organs against CCM opponents.

According to Mr Msekwa, such use of excessive force was detrimental to the country's democratic development.

Mr Kiravu admitted that there were people in the country who use state organs arbitrarily to suppress independent thinking.

But yesterday Mr Kiravu said: "It's not true that we have been deploying more police officers during by-elections. I assure the people that in some constituencies which are prone to violence, like Kiteto and Tarime, we did so purposely to ensure peace."

He said in some constituencies, violence was likely to occur because contesting parties issued statements that provoked violence.

"But all this has been caused by our infancy democracy. You cannot find such practices in developed countries where true democracy is practiced," Kiravu said.

He added that most political parties which had their candidates vying for parliamentary seats in by-elections, normally have no confidence with the NEC, which also shows their infancy in democracy.

The top electoral official, however, conceded that there was need to review laws governing the costly by-elections.

"In a single, a by-election can cost between Sh200 and Sh500 million. This is huge amount of money," the director said.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the International Democracy Day, Mr Msekwa, who is also the chairman of the Tanzania Centre for Democracy, said it was strange to find out that until today, 17 years since Tanzanian re-adopted political pluralism, there are people who are reluctant to accept political opponents.

Mr Msekwa urged all political actors to adapt the culture of political tolerance by welcoming alternative opinions.

He said one major problem facing the development of democracy in Tanzania, was to think that democracy could be limited to the notion of voting or being voted for. This is wrong and has negative connotations, he said.

"It is wrong to think that democracy could be limited to the process of voting and being voted for, rather it is a long process which has to be reflected in the people's daily lives," he said.

Mr Msekwa said current trends indicate that the country's democratic growth was being hampered.

He said newly established political parties have failed to make any significant impact, a fact that has made some people lose hope to the country's opposition.

He further said this was not new as it occurred early in the 1960s before the country became a single-party state.

He recalled that it was a well-known fact then that whoever vies for political office through the then ruling party, Tanganyika African National Union (Tanu), would automatically snatch the post.

It was under such circumstances that the Founding father of the Nation, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, opted for plural politics as a way of allowing more democracy through a genuine intra-party competition, he pointed out.

This exercise, according to Mr Msekwa, was successful because two of the then political heavyweights, Mr Paul Bomani and Bibi Titi Mohamed, who had played key role during the independent struggle, were defeated by their challengers.

Recalling what transpired when the former Chief Justice Francis Nyalali, gathered comments across the country on ideal political system, he said his commission proved that many people lacked political awareness.

"Many people said no to multi-partism, and to me that was for fear of the unknown," he said.

Mr Msekwa is one of the ruling party's think tanks and his views could be an indication of urging for transparency after so many years of 'party discipline' in which such statements were delivered within closed doors.

This is the second time that Mr Msekwa has delivered such strong statements outside the party milieu. The first time was after the Tarime by-election when he issued a statement decrying misuse of funds during the by-election.

He cited the Tarime case where both CCM and the opposition Chama cha Demokrasia, used helicopters in the campaign, an exercise that Mr Msekwa said was diverting funds from other useful expenditures.

Police spokesperson, assistant commissioner of Police Abdallah Msika, could not be reached for comment yesterday.