Authors: SYLIVESTER DOMASA and KATARE MBASHIRU,Dodoma
AfricaPress-Tanzania: AS parliament continued for the second session on Wednesday, Special Seats lawmakers from the opposition Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA), failed to turn up in the House even as National Assembly Speaker Job Ndugai insisted that they are still within the limit of the law.
In an interview with a local television station on Tuesday evening, Mr Ndugai said he was yet to receive the names of Special Seats lawmakers from CHADEMA.
However, he said as per the legislation, Parliament still recognises them as legal legislators and that should their names be forwarded to his office they would be sworn-in and allowed to continue offering their service in the House.
“The law is clear that they can only be axed from the House after they fail to attend three consecutive meetings without giving any written information to the office of the National Assembly Speaker,” he said.
This means, if they will not be able to attend the ongoing meeting, and the next two meetings scheduled for January and March 2021 respectively, they will have disqualified themselves.
In the debating chamber, a number of seats “presumed” to be allocated for CHADEMA’s Special Seats MPs remained empty throughout the session.
This is despite Article 66 of the Constitution of Tanzania outlining 113 seats to be reserved for women.
In the just-ended election, the ruling CCM presidential candidate John Magufuli won by 84.4 per cent or 12.5 million of all valid vote counts.
CCM also won 256 out of 264 constituencies giving it the edge to nominate 94 women for the legislative special seats.
According to election laws, a political party needs at least 5 per cent of legislative votes to nominate special seats.
Details from the National Electoral Commission (NEC) and the National Assembly asserted that CHADEMA, which had over 5 per cent of the required votes, was entitled to nominate 19 women for the legislative position.
However, until Wednesday, the names were yet to be presented to the office of the Speaker of the National Assembly.
“We have not nominated or presented any list of names to the National Electoral Commission for Special Seat MPs,” CHADEMA party spokesperson Tumaini Makene was quoted as saying by the local media on Monday.
When reached for comment on Wednesday, neither Makene nor the party Secretary- General John Mnyika offered comment.
However, CHADEMA’s only elected MP Aida Khenan (Nkasi-North) attended the morning session that began by electing National Assembly Speaker Job Ndugai.
The MP had urged the party leaders to revisit their position for not recognizing elected MPs and councillors due to the alleged anomalies during the October polls.
Before his election as House Speaker for his second term on Tuesday, Mr Ndugai asked MPs to vote him on grounds that he will uphold the interest of all lawmakers.
In his speech he was quoted as saying: “Although it will be a Parliament with minority MPs from opposition parties … I will be just in discharging my duties.”
Registrar of Political Parties Judge (retired) Francis Mutungi is yet to issue any comment but political analysts suggest that the decision by CHADEMA to withhold names for Special Seats MPs amounts to a clear breach of the constitution.
Until Wednesday, a spot check by this paper witnessed busy activities at the entrance gates where hundreds of CCM MPs negotiated their way into the active law-making body.
National Assembly clerk Mr Stephen Kagaigai issued a statement Sunday summoning all elected MPs to be in Dodoma on Monday ready for registration and other documentation procedures
