Author: HILDA MHAGAMA
AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE CCM–dominated Parliament will be effective in holding the government to account, contrary to claims being made by a section of the public that the 12th House will be toothless, analysts have assured the general public.
Speaking to the Sunday News yesterday, analysts said during Mwalimu Julius Nyerere era when the Parliament was dominated by CCM members, the public witnessed hot debates in the debating chamber, a situation that may re-emerge in the 12th Parliament.
Professor Joseph Matumaini of Saint Augustine University (SAUT) told the ‘africa-press’ in a telephone interview that Tanzania is entering into a new era, therefore having majority members of the ruling party in the parliament does not mean there will be no constructive criticism on issues related to the country’s development.
“Tanzanians should not worry, because during the reign of Mwalimu Nyerere, Parliament was dominated by one-party and things went well, so we expect there will be those who will hold the government accountable,” he said A political analyst, Mr David Kafulila said opposition parties created a perception that for parliament to be active in holding the government accountable; there must be a large number of opposition MPs, something that he said is not correct.
“This is just an assumption, but I believe even CCM MPs can stand up to hold the government accountable and oppose the arguments they see as useless to the people, so having a lesser number of opposition seats will not have an impact on parliament’s ability to govern,” he commented.
Mr Kafulila who is the former Kigoma South MP further said the only thing people will miss in the 12th parliament is the political debates, for most part, which were not productive. In the 2020 General Election held on 28 October 2020, Tanzanians witnessed the collapse of opposition with the dominant Chama Cha Mapinduzi uprooting opposition bigwigs in the parliamentary election.
According to the results announced by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) through its returning officers, CCM won in 256 constituencies, with opposition parties winning only eight legislative seats.
However, a lecturer at the University of Dodoma (UDOM), Dr Paul Loisulie said it was too early to predict and elucidate what the next parliament will be like due to the large number of MPs from CCM. “It is too early to predict what it will be until it is launched and when they start their work as MPs,” said Dr Loisulie He said in the past there was a one-party parliament, but there arose opponents raising arguments, debates and criticism within the parliament, so Tanzanians should wait to see the next parliament because it may have some kind of influence.
According to the Parliamentary Records Book, the 11th Parliament, Third Edition of February 2019, there were 392 MPs, of whom 263 were elected. Among them 206 represented CCM, 29 CUF, 26 Chadema, with ACTWazalendo and NCCR having one representative each. The number of MPs for special seats was 113, where CCM had 66, Chadema 37 and CUF 10. The number of MPs nominated by the president was 10. The number of MPs from the House of Representatives was five and the Attorney General.
