{UAH} Pojim/WBK: Why CCM now faces trying option - Katiba Review
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Why CCM now faces trying option
Chama cha Mapinduzi chairman Jakaya Kikwete presides at akey party meeting in Dodoma last year.
In Summary
The process has pros and cons when it comes to getting one candidate as its 41 aspirants differ in age, education, experience, character, knowledge, wisdom and integrity.
Dar es Salaam. Days for Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) to begin a nomination process to get its right candidate are numbered and all interested Tanzanians are eagerly waiting to see how this process will end.
The process has pros and cons when it comes to getting one candidate as its 41 aspirants differ in age, education, experience, character, knowledge, wisdom and integrity.
Although CCM may boast itself about being the ruling party with rich experience in conducting nomination processes for many years since the reintroduction of political pluralism in 1992, having at least 40 presidential aspirants has its own glitches.
No doubt the profile of aspirants and the way they have been doing in their pre-campaigns seeking endorsement from party members is a fact that the nomination task that faces CCM this time is very crucial and challenging. What makes the entire exercise more difficult this time than the past years is the fact that some aspirants see themselves as more qualified and preferable than others.
Furthermore, there are some aspirants, who have been accusing their colleagues of being corrupt and unqualified for nomination and that if the latter secure nomination, they will terminate their membership with the ruling party.
This is bad news for CCM nominating organs, which has never happened before, that one or some aspirants threaten to quit the party simply because someone else has secured nomination. Evidently, such a stand sends a threatening message to President Jakaya Kikwete and his nominating committee not to disregard integrity in the presidential race this time.
This kind of opposition within the CCM aspirants themselves does not only pose a serious challenge to all CCM meetings responsible for the nomination process, but it also puts unsuccessful aspirants into uncompromising groups that threaten the stability of the ruling party. For that matter, the outgoing president, who is also the national CCM chairman, is put to test to ensure the ruling party is not collapsing into his hands and thus leaving behind a bad history of disintegrating his own party before winding up his tenure of office.
If some of the aspirants do not accept the nomination of a colleague they have in mind because of whatever reasons means that Kikwete and his committee members will be blamed for favouring their nominee of choice, who may be considered by the majority as the one, who has made it through dirty tactics.
There are also rumours that some of the aspirants have just been asked to declare their intention to contest in the presidential race just to take people for a ride, but they don't mean it at all. Taking into account such a big number of aspirants, this situation is very unique and thus complicates the entire process of getting the right candidate without shaking the party.
We shouldn't forget that there are some aspirants, who had declared to win even before the nomination process started and what they need is only for formal CCM nominating meetings.
If such unwavering aspirants fail to make it through the nomination process because of an undemocratic procedure within the party, while their supporters have assured them of victory, what will happen?
This year's CCM nomination may reflect what happened in 2010, when the ruling party was nominating a candidate for the National Assembly Speaker's post.
Immediate past Speaker Samuel Sitta and Andrew Chenge posed a new challenge to the ruling party in getting a candidate for the Speaker's seat. Kikwete tactfully invoked gender to contain the crisis.
The party was saved from this crisis, when it was decided that it was the turn for a woman Speaker and thus all candidates were to be women for that matter.
This ploy automatically skimmed Sitta and Chenge from contesting the Speaker's post.
So, what tact will Kikwete and his committee members use this time to get a nominee and still the party remains intact?
In my view, there is only one tactic that CCM nominating meetings may apply to get the presidential candidate if they want to keep the party undivided after the nomination process is over.
They can use a 'Union card' that is saying that, this time round the CCM candidate must come from Zanzibar after Tanzania Mainland has enjoyed the Union presidency for consecutively two decades since retired President Ali Hassan Mwinyi, who led the country from 1985-1990 remained the only President from the Isles so far.
Using the Union card will automatically and peaceful skim all rival aspirants from Tanzania Mainland, who many people expect CCM candidate will get a nominee this year.
Since there is no law on exchanging the Union presidency, only wisdom can be invoked in the same way Mwalimu Julius Nyerere did in 1985 to get Mwinyi just to balance the 'Union equation' when circumstances so demanded.
Such a tactic may be useful for CCM to get its flag bearer during the general election and the party may remain united although it may still encounter a stiff campaign from opposition - this time under the auspicious of the Coalition of Defenders of the people's Constitution (Ukawa) if they pick a competent presidential candidate from Tanzania Mainland.
If CCM agrees to get a presidential candidate from Zanzibar, then it can tactfully add flavour by using a 'gender card' to appoint a competent woman from Tanzania Mainland as a running mate and thus balance both gender sensitivity and Union concerns and that may calm and please many CCM members and their fans countrywide. It is possible for CCM to go for this option and still make it through to State House again.
In my opinion, this is the best option for Kikwete and CCM. Otherwise, let them get prepared for very unpredictable consequences if they use a normal procedure used in 1995 and 2005 to get the candidate under this new environment even if they will be fair enough in using their 13 criteria to get a candidate, who excels in integrity more than others.
Equation: Zanzibar candidate + woman running mate from Tanzania Mainland = strong and undivided CCM.
The author is a lawyer/journalist. He can be reached at mwassajingi@yahoo.com, 0756 440 175.
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