Africa-Press – Tanzania. PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan yesterday built her argument over the concept of democracy, saying there is no specific agreed global formula to follow, while insisting that the country is perfectly democratic.
She issued the statements at the Diamond Jubilee Hall in Dar es Salaam yesterday, as the country joined the world in marking the International Day of Democracy that is celebrated every September 15.
President Samia said the concept of democracy depends on the nature of a particular country.
“Democracy is not a bottle of Coca-Cola which you can import. Democracy should develop according to that particular country,” President Samia recalled the quote of Father of the nation, the late Julius Nyerere.
She elaborated: “The concept of democracy is not like the Coca-Cola drink where you get similar tastes wherever you are because this democracy depends on different culture, norms and political ideologies.” She went on arguing that though democracy has been agreed globally, its implementation has also to consider the nature of the country, level of development, constitution, laws and guidelines. elect their government.
Other things related to democracy are balanced sharing of resources and good governance, she said. “Considering all these, no doubt that Tanzania is among leading countries that observe the principles of democracy,” she said.
Article 3 (1) of the country’s Constitution stipulates that the United Republic of Tanzania is a democratic, secular and socialist state which adheres to multiparty democracy.
“This is not only proved by the Constitutional statement but also several steps taken by the government, such as introducing and strengthening institutions responsible for supervising democracy,” President Samia said.
She said Tanzania is also doing well in promoting freedom of expression. The president further noted that Tanzania is in the list of countries with a large number of media outlets among which, 75 per cent are privately owned.
She said, statistics by May this year showed that Tanzania had a total of 257 newspapers, 197 radio stations, 50 television stations, 452 Online TV stations and 122 blogs.
“75 per cent of these outlets are privately owned and they are free to air and publish whatever they want,” she said.
The Head of State added that the country has also provided enough space for freedom of association, assuring that the government would maintain the pace.
“There are a lot of civil societies, non-governmental organizations, trade unions and 19 political parties, all these provides space for freedom of association,” she said.
On the part of human rights, the constitution recognizes them since the country has signed several conventions meant to protect human rights.
