Africa, Analysis, Side Feature

Democratic Daydreaming

News:

The Media is awash with reports that some delegates of the Central Committee of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) ruling party criticized the whole procedure of the process of seeking a Presidential candidate for the party. The delegates are Dr. Emmanuel Nchimbi, Member of Parliament Songea Urban and who served as Minister of the Interior, Sophia Simba, who is currently Minister of Community Development, Gender and Children and Chair of Tanzania Women’s Coalition, Adam Kimbisa who is CCM Chairperson of the Dodoma Region. The delegates declared in front of journalists their decision to distance themselves from the Committee decisions during the process saying that the Central Committee has violated procedures and the party’s constitution by presenting names of only a few candidates to be discussed.


 

Comment:

The Central Committee which is the highest organ of CCM in this process had the responsibility of receiving and discussing names of candidates from the Ethics Committee and analyzing to find a number of qualifying candidates to be presented in later sessions. According to the delegates we have mentioned above, the organ received only a few names while some names of candidates had already been deleted. This situation is what caused those delegates to distance themselves from those decisions and criticized the procedures used which are contrary to democracy and the constitution of their party.

This issue clearly demonstrates our countries do not have free decisions in their fundamental tenets. It is obviously clear that the issue of electing the next president has a specific list of people targeted that cannot be avoided under any circumstances. There is no doubt that this list is at the instigation of powerful nations.

In addition, it is revealing that the process to elect the president from inside to the outside of parties is only a riddle of wasting people’s time and resources while the process is full of lies. Not to mention that the democratic system is anchored on interests and false Machiavelli theories of ‘do whatever it takes to reach your goal’. Therefore, strife and conflict is a thing to be expected in this system of interest and greed. On the other hand, democracy is a false theme which has no relevance since its inception. It is just a slogan circulated and propagated to an extent of intoxicating a majority, including even some Muslims. Now let’s ask if this process within the ruling party causes disagreements among themselves and they violated their own procedures, how will there be democracy between this party and the other parties?

It is popular with some CCM politicians in Zanzibar to make clear statements that CCM Zanzibar can never be defeated in an election since the government was founded by a revolution. In addition, we have recently heard statements by Nauye Nape, who is Ideology and Publicity Secretary speaking publicly that CCM will prevail even if through a ‘handball goal’. What matters is the referee not to see the goal.

After all these events that took place in public view, not to mention the illegality the system according to Islam, unfortunately there are still some people including Muslims who are the best nation, who have the greed of a hyena and hope to succeed through this system ostensibly to achieve justice and integrity.

يَعِدُهُمْ وَيُمَنِّيهِمْ وَمَا يَعِدُهُمْ الشَّيْطَانُ إِلاَّ غُرُورًا

“He (Shaytan) makes promises to them and fills them with false hopes. But what Shaytan promises them is nothing but delusion.”

(An-Nisaa, 4:120)

Masoud Msellem

Deputy Media Representative of Hizb ut Tahrir in East Africa