Basillioh Rukanga & Alfred Lasteck
BBC News, Nairobi & Dar Es Salaam
AFP
Tundu Lissu faces treason
Tindu Lis, who was shot 16 times in an attempt to assassinate in 2017, is a great survivor of Tanzania’s politics and one of the most persecuted politicians.
But some people ask if he has now reached the end of the line.
Chadema, the leader of a major opposition party, is in the spotlight after being charged with treason.
Still, he is not upset. Despite the enormous risks, he believes that he can pressure the government to implement reforms ahead of the October presidential and parliamentary elections.
But is he able to survive the storm in a harsh political environment, contrary to what he believes is a politically driven accusation?
His party has been disqualified from the election and he has been detained for the past two weeks.
Last September, Squirrel told the BBC that nothing would come on the silver platter, and it would take the courage to demand reforms “on the streets and in the villages.”
To achieve his goals, he felt that he needed to take over Chadema’s leadership.
A fiery politician, Lis was critical of the way the party was run, accusing then-chairman Freeman Mbowi of being too reconciliated with the government.
In a fierce race, he kicked Mbowe out of the post.
Just three months after Chadema’s helm, Lissu was arrested this month, detained in a speech urging the public to launch a rebellion and disrupt the election.
He was not allowed to enter a petition for treason, but he pleaded not guilty to another charge of releasing false information.
Before his arrest, he had held rallies nationwide with the call for “no reforms, no elections.”
He added that the current system was equipped in favour of the ruling CCM party and would have no point in participating in the election without reform.
He is scheduled to reappear in court on Thursday. He is charged with treason and he cannot seek bail.
His international lawyer, Robert Amsterdam, told the BBC it was their “mission to protect democracy.”
But that’s not a simple task – CCM has won every election since independence and rarely let go of strangulation against power easily.
There is also a rift in Chadema, with some members opposing the Squirrel strategy.
AFP
The CCM Party has won all elections in Tanzania’s history
The party is prohibited from challenging the October election after refusing to comply with the Election Commission’s requirements to sign a code of conduct.
The important purpose of the document is to “ensure that political parties and their supporters act well…and to maintain peace and harmony during elections.”
Chadema sees the Code of Conduct as a trick to contain opposition and fears that state oppression will continue.
In September, a senior Chadema party official was accused and brutally killed amid a wave of government critic acquiring them.
In the local elections in November, Chadema said thousands of candidates were banned from participating. The ruling party won about 98% of its seats.
The government rejected the proposal that elections were held according to rules and that elections were not free and fair.
But for Lis, local elections justified his call for reform ahead of presidential and Congress polls.
Campaign Group Human Rights Watch expressed similar fears, urging the government to end political crackdowns.
The Catholic Church added that to calls for the unconditional release of Squirrel and a fair election.
However, the arrest of opposition politicians continues, despite Prime Minister Qasim Majaliwa’s promises earlier this month that authorities will ensure the security and fairness of the polls.
The BBC contacted the government for comment.
President Samia Sloof gave Tanzanians great political freedom after taking office in 2021 after his predecessor, John Magufuli.
But Tanzania has once again “began seeing a wave of oppression and a wave of state-organized violence,” said Nicodemus Minde, a Tanzanian political analyst.
It was during that time that Squirrel survived the assassination attempt.
AFP
The government is accused of crackdown on the opposition parties
Before his arrest, Lis said his party had a list of “the lowest but critical reforms that must be done to ensure a free election.”
His lawyer, Amsterdam, told the BBC it included the formation of a “really independent national election commission with members not associated with the government.” This must be engraved in the Constitution.
Chadema also requires the committee that the burden of proof should lie to show that the vote is free and fair in the event of an election dispute.
Lissu’s strategy cost him a lot of money on himself and Chadema, as the party faction, known as the G-55, adopts a softer stance.
It asks the party to challenge the election, pursuing consultations with the government over its demands.
That’s the approach taken by Act-Wazalendo, the second largest opposition party.
In addition to 16 anti-fringe parties, they signed the Code of Conduct. Only Chadema refused.
The squirrel appears to be looking at neighboring Kenya – a massive protest last year forced the government to remove plans to increase taxes – as a model to follow.
At the time, he told the BBC that Tanzanians were not “imposed strong enough on them for democratic reform.” [its] Democratic distribution is what we need to do.”
It is unclear whether such a strategy will work as many Tanzanians appear to be reluctant to publicly support a campaign that could rattle the government.
But Amsterdam said the more condemns the government, the more spurs Chadema supporters to “get ahead and engage in civil disobedience.”
He added that Chadema will use “all legal and political tools” to achieve change.
However, political analyst Thomas Kibwana criticized Lis’ strategy, saying that the current parliamentary term, which is at the end of June, does not have enough time to have a legal effect on major reforms ahead of the October election.
He said it might be better to wait for Chadema until after the election.
Fulgens Masawe, director of Tanzania’s legal rights group, told the BBC that Chadema faces important hurdles for promoting election reform, but the party had the right to go to court to challenge its removal from the election.
Minde said that if Chadema remains locked out of the election, the ruling party is likely to increase the overwhelming majority already in Parliament.
Analysts added that Chadema might even lose his position as a major opposition party, adding, “Nature will of course be backwards and perhaps other opposition parties will seize this opportunity.”
That’s the risk that the squirrel and the party chose to take.
You may be interested too:
Getty Images/BBC
Source link
