Democratisation, party politics and elections in Tanzania

The major thrust of the paper will be to suggest that while the main objective of the introduction of the multi-party democratic system and its accompanying competitive elections is the development of a governance arrangement that embodies a large measure of consensus and understanding among and between the different groups in a society, in Africa and further abroad in the newly democratising societies, the introduction of multi-party system towards the end of the 19980s has revived ethnic and regional loyalties and heightened tensions around class, religious and other factional differences which have gone on to undermine even previously existing institutions and structures that knit the societies together and promoted social and economic development. I would like to proceed by suggesting that the major challenge for these countries is to build upon the existing elements of peace and stability, social and economic gains in order to promote and attain sustained democratic structures and institutions capable of adapting to the trauma of changes in the transitional process. I situate Tanzania within this framework by suggesting that since the independence of Tanganyika in 1961 and the Union with Zanzibar in 1964 the country has enjoyed relative peace and stability and variable social and economic gains. Also, that since the re-introduction of the multi-party competitive system in 1992, unlike elsewhere in Africa, Tanzania has had a relatively orderly and stable transitional process towards the multi-party democratic system. 1 would also like to suggest however, that even this relatively smooth transition has not been without its stress and strains. The elections were heavily and seriously contested (e.g. in court) often signalling a situation of mistrust, lack of consensus and therefore potential instability. In the extreme case of the situation in Zanzibar, the mistrust led to a political impasse that almost halted development initiatives in all spheres after the elections. Looking towards the elections in year 2000, the challenge is to make use of the experiences of the 1995 general elections to embark on a programme that will lead into reconciliation of previous and potential warring factions and groups. This challenge should be directed towards the foundations of a culture of tolerance and honest across the country and within and between specific institutions, notably the political parties and the various interests that back them up. elections and 2) a civic education programme. The building of the national consensus aims at striking an accord between all the actors and stakeholders on how to conduct themselves during the year 2000 elections. The Civic education programme is intended to raise the competence level of the electorate so that they make informed judgement about the candidates and the elections generally. "Agenda: Participation 2000" in Tanzania may not be regarded as a panacea for all the problems arising from the challenges of democratisation in other countries or even in Tanzania itself. However it is a conscious strategy that is likely going to contribute to the changing of the social condition of lack of awareness that alter the distribution of power in the transition to democracy in Tanzania and may go a long way towards the resolution of problems of transition in multi-ethnic multi-religious societies such as Tanzania's.