Nigeria’s role as African nations’ big brother was re-affirmed recently when former President Goodluck Jonathan was appointed as Head of the Commonwealth Observer Group for Tanzania’s general election. Correspondent, SAM NWOKORO, reports.
The former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, is leading the 33-nation observer mission for the Sunday, October 25, 2015 General Election in Tanzania. The team will be there to commence pre-election observatory works. Jonathan would be helped by Mozambican Armando Guebuza. The election is billed to hold in October 25.
Acting Permanent Secretary in Tanzania’s Foreign Ministry and Co-operation, Ambassador Hassan Yahya, said late last week in a joint press conference with the United Nation’s system Resident Coordinator, Alvaro Rodriguez, that the two men were chosen based on their credentials as men of integrity and of peace whose records in civil and democratic ethics would help the achievement of peaceful poll in Tanzania.
Jonathan would lead the Commonwealth team, while Guebuza would lead the African Union (AU) team. Also, the mission would be made up of observers from Africa, Asia, Americas, Europe and the Pacific.
Testimonials
No doubt, some prominent Nigerians have been grateful for the honour done Jonathan for appointing him leader of the Commonwealth Election Observer Mission. It would be his first global assignment since he left office last May after the 2015 general election.
Reacting to his appointment, Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, said: “Jonathan’s appointment was in recognition of his remarkable role in the last presidential election in which he conceded defeat, thereby saving Nigeria from catastrophe which even the international community thought would befell Nigeria. Jonathan should be celebrated and I am happy that the world is beginning to give him the deserved recognition and celebration less than five months that he left office.”
Fayose went on to say: “Jonathan’s courage and spirit of sportsmanship in accepting the outcome of the March 28 presidential election, despite the obvious shortcomings, saved the nation from political chaos and violence.”
A rights activist, Yinka Odumakin, also commenting said: “Jonathan earned the appointment for himself by sacrificing his personal ambition for the collective good of Nigeria.”
The former Nigerian president had in the five years that he ruled Africa’s most populous country garnered an unprecedented global admiration as a leader who blended into populist sentiments at home and abroad on account of his record-setting attentiveness to democratic behaviours, something quite unusual among Nigerian presidents, even in democratic regimes.
Jonathan presided over an emotionally-truncated country with threatened social fabrics wrought by fundamentalists’ movements in the North which multiplied his tasks and wrecked the country’s budgets via unbudgeted high military expenditures, truncating in part his plan to leave behind one of the richest and most vibrant economies in Africa.
He led a foreign policy centred on citizen-focused approach designed to accord this vision of defending the dignity of humanity the highest priority and connect foreign policy to domestic policy while placing a greater emphasis on economic diplomacy.
On August 26, 2011, after the UN building was bombed by Boko Haram, Jonathan announced that it was an attack not merely on Nigeria but on the international community. He told Reuters: “We would work with the international community and other world leaders to ensure that terrorism is brought under control.”
Jonathan’s soft approaches to handling knotty explosive matters of state had impressed leaders of countries the world over. The perception was that if a Jonathan were not the president of Nigeria between 2010 and 2015, Nigeria would for long had stopped to exist.
His humane disposition has been the key to his popularity. And his non-tribal disposition is legendary. He is known to be very sensitive to issues of balancing interests in public appointments, and even out of public space because of the intricate ethno-religious make-up of Nigeria.
On May 14, 2013, he declared a state of emergency in three North East states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa to curtail the activities of Boko Haram to enable the last general elections hold, in which he contested re-election and lost to Muhammadu Buhari. By June 2013, he canvassed 20 years sentence for anyone found to be in support of Boko Haram. He refused to jail or execute soldiers alleged to have compromised their front row during the battle against insurgency.
Like Nigeria like Tanzania
Tanzania’s scheduled October 25 general election is taking place in an atmosphere almost resembling Nigeria’s before the 2015 general election: the political atmosphere has been strife-torn. Emotion ran high among politicians and citizens alike. The incumbent president seeks a second term in office, which, given the ethno-bipolar politics between Tanzania and Tanganyika – a part of the country seeking political restructuring of the country to avail itself a much-sought autonomy.
As the election nears, tempers are flaring because of fears that if the incumbent president wins, a recommended constitutional reforms implementation might be thwarted. Thus all the civil society groups in Tanzania have aligned with current opposition party to form one big formidable bloc pushing to topple the incumbent political establishment.
Like what obtained few months ago in Nigeria, the western world and global institutions are watching with keen interest how the election holds peacefully and attain some level of credibility that will bode well with both the ruling party and the opposition. The big powers of the world may have believed that Jonathan could be able to nudge the opposing parties and civil society in Dar es Salam to embrace peace pre- and post-election.
In a broader context, the sending of African rapporteurs and observers to head foreign observer missions during elections in Africa cannot be separated from UN’s recent resolutions to maximise use of regional and sub-regional personnel in pushing for peace in the regions as “as first responders”, since it is assumed that local diplomats and rapporteurs understand the social dynamics of the individual countries, for example in AU.
Tanzania’s fractious polity
Tanzania, since the re-introduction of multi-party democracy in 1992, has peacefully made the transition from one administration to another albeit through one dominant party. The country’s fifth multi-party elections are set for October 25, 2015.
Unlike the past, the ruling party, Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM), will face tough opposition. The constitution review process, which was to culminate in a referendum in April 30, has brought the main opposition political parties together in an unprecedented way. Tanzania began the constitution review process in December 2011, which was aimed at, among other things, resolving the imbalance of the political union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar.
A protracted schism between the ruling party and the opposition over the format of the union as presented in the constitution draft by the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) led to the coalescing of the opposition. Four major opposition political parties – Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema), Civic United Front (CUF), NCCR-Mageuzi and National League for Democracy (NLD) – and a section of civil society members boycotted the Constituent Assembly, which was debating the constitution draft in Dodoma. These parties merged into the Coalition of Defenders of the People’s Constitution popularly known by the Swahili term, Umoja wa Katiba ya Wananchi (UKAWA).
The constituent members of the coalition went ahead and signed a pre-election Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in October 2014. The parties agreed to present one candidate in all the elective posts (from the president to councillors) with respect to party strengths in all regions of Tanzania in the 2015 elections. The MoU signed at a public rally in Dar es Salam also outlined power-sharing agreements in the event of winning the elections.
The ruling CCM has been beset with intra-elite corruption scandals and internal schisms. Hazel Gray, in a recent article, narrated the political economy of grand corruption within the highest echelons of the state. CCM’s failure to tackle the question of corruption, poor governance and the failed constitution process gives the nascent UKAWA much political clout going into the elections. Drawing from Nigeria’s All Progressives Congress (APC), which clinched victory in the 2015 elections, UKAWA must strive for political unity and hammer its agenda for change – which in this case is the constitution and fighting corruption.
There is no doubt that CCM remains an experienced grand old party, whose history and formation resonate with the ideals of Tanzania as a nation. UKAWA must endeavour to define its agenda – other than defeating CCM in the polls. Coalitions have often failed to map out a distinct political agenda or to visualise a future beyond electoral victory. Defining a distinct political agenda first involves a negotiated strategic political leadership.
Many political coalitions fail to conjure up negotiated political settlements. In this context, UKAWA must deliberate on a strong leader who shall marshal the coalition going forward. Second, it is imperative for the coalition to coalesce around key priorities – in this case a new constitution, fighting corruption and re-building the economy. A strong unified opposition will also be beneficial to CCM just as a strong CCM will be beneficial to the opposition. Building strong political entities is a crucial recipe for democratic transitions.
Independence of the electoral body
One of the recommendations outlined in the constitution draft was an independent electoral commission. The aborted constitution referendum means that the provision of an independent electoral body will not be available. The president rescinded an earlier agreement for minimum constitution reforms which was negotiated by the Tanzania Centre for Democracy (TCD), the umbrella organisation for political parties. These reforms included setting up an independent electoral commission.
Electoral bodies in Africa have often been accused of being an arm of the government. In Tanzania, the current president appoints the chairman of the electoral commission and its commissioners. Tanzania’s electoral body, the National Electoral Commission (NEC), has been accused of harbouring the interest of the ruling party. NEC continues to grapple with registration of voters (an exercise that is seen as being behind schedule). NEC must strive for proper management of the elections – credibility, neutrality and independence.
