Bunge-Lenye-Meno-A-Parliament-with-Teeth-for-Tanzania-LAXNNAJ547

A Parliament with Teeth, for Tanzania
president Julius Nyerere. However, the greater powers of party whips
under multi-partyism created situations where the constitutional role of
parliament could be frustrated by partisan loyalties.
Mr Sitta argues that during the first decade of the one-party state, MPs
were at liberty to speak freely. Parliament had been characterised by
vigorous and open debate. A left-leaning group of younger MPs, many
of them with experience of nationalist and socialist movements outside
Africa, had challenged a right-leaning and conservative constituency of
rural chiefs and other traditional authorities. On occasion, MPs had
refused to enact draft laws and sent back proposed legislation to be
revised or amended by Nyerere’s administration.
Dr Slaa acknowledges the inherent stability of the one-party state, which
had been a strength of Nyerere’s centralised political system. However,
the deficiencies of the old system are still evident under multi-partyism.
Unless these can be addressed, Dr Slaa argues that socio-economic
development will not be achieved in Tanzania. Reform of the electoral
system is a necessary first step towards reducing the adverse effects of
party loyalty in parliament.
Mr Cheyo defends the record of parliament under multi-partyism. The
world in 2008 is substantially different to the independence era of the
1960s. Tanzania has become both more dependent on, and more
responsive to, the global environment. As sole parliamentary
representative of the United Democratic Party, Mr Cheyo considers
opposition parties better able to hold the government to account than
members of the governing CCM.
68