TANZANIA: POLITICAL stakeholders have expressed optimism on the proposed amendments to the electoral laws, noting that the measure will increase efficiency of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) and bolster democracy in the country.
They also called for the amendments to take into consideration the pillar of resilience with special focus on maintaining humanity, brotherhood, unity and peace.
The proposed amendments of the electoral laws are contained in the three bills which were tabled in Parliament for the first reading in November last year. They are National Electoral Commission Bill 2023, the Political Parties Affairs Laws (Amendment) Bill 2023, and the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections Bill 2023.
The stakeholders aired their views in a meeting held in Dar es Salaam on Thursday organised by Political Parties Council with the aim of gathering views on proposed adjustments of the laws.
Geopolitical Analyst Thabit Mlangi said that the amendment of the laws must safeguard the country's resilience as per the constitution.
"Any amendments to the electoral laws which will not consider the basis of resilience that takes on board humanity, brotherhood, unity and peace, will be contrary to the government needs," Mr Mlangi asserted.
He said while writing the laws people should do away with any suspicious elements, saying good faith should lead the whole process.
"We cannot build the country under suspicion and the government should not abandon the country's basis which safeguards resilience," he said.
"Let's embrace resilience while believing that the amendments to these laws will continue uniting us as a nation," he noted.
Mr Mlangi's views were echoed by Mzumbe University Lecturer Dr Idda Swai who also noted that if the proposed amendments are successfully passed in Parliament they will take the country's democracy and governance to the next level.
"If the proposed amendments will be carried out and the legislations properly enforced, they will provide more freedom to the Commission in managing election issues, thus promoting democracy in the country," Dr Swai said.
In particular Dr Swai also said the proposed bill will address gender inequality because the changes have considered the involvement of women in recruitment of various electoral entities and committees.
Dr Swai commended the government led by President Samia Suluhu Hassan for allowing the amendments to the electoral laws to be carried out.
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In a related development, Dr Swai recommended section 9 (5) of the proposed bill to consider special groups such as those with vision impairment and hearing problems.
For his part, a lecturer at Mzumbe University (MU), Dr Mrisho Malipula believes the proposed amendments to the electoral laws will be good starting point towards increasing transparency, freedom and democracy in electing leaders.
Dr Malipula also said that any amendments, among other objectives, aim at having, a more independent law that governs the operations of the electoral commission, insisting that the measure is a good sign for further improving electoral commission's efficiency.
"Among the areas which have drawn my attention in these proposed amendments include the concept of increasing transparency, participation and reduction of power of the president especially in appointing electoral commission members, where the Recruitment Committee will now propose members who will be appointed by President," he said.
"In my opinion, it is better these amendments are carried out and passed since it is a good start in making improvements in our electoral processes. Let's not lose this golden opportunity. The constitutional process is a long process and cannot be done in two or three months," Advocate Mr Alex Mgongorwa said when presenting the summary of the proposed amendments.
