THE Chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NEC), Judge Damian Lubuva, declared yesterday that the long-awaited new Constitution will be completed before the country's next general election in 2020.This is after the previous constitution-making process was derailed by a protracted dispute between the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and a coalition of opposition parties.
"It is our hope ... that a new Constitution will be in place to guide our electoral process before the next general election is held in the year 2020," Lubuva told journalists yesterday at the Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF) grounds.
The row over the new Constitution, which is aimed at replacing one passed in 1977 when Tanzania was under one-party rule, has stoked political tensions in the country.
Tanzania's main opposition parties, including Chadema, the Civic United Front (CUF) and NCCR-Mageuzi, last year formed a loose coalition, UKAWA, to jointly oppose CCM's proposals for the new Constitution.
Opposition parties also appointed a single presidential candidate in the 2015 general election for the first time in history after failing in previous attempts, largely thanks to their new-found unity under the UKAWA umbrella.
UKAWA leaders are calling for a reduction of presidential powers, formation of a federal system of administration with three governments and a raft of political reforms to be included in the new Constitution.
Activists and opposition leaders in the country have long been calling for an independent electoral commission to oversee presidential and parliamentary elections.
Lubuva said provisions for the establishment of an independent electoral commission were contained in the proposed new Constitution, but it did not go for a national referendum as expected due to a political stalemate between CCM and opposition parties.
However, he defended NEC, saying it was operating without interference from anyone and has conducted general elections in Tanzania in free and fair conditions.
"The existing electoral commission is free and fair because no one interferes in our work. Even the general election that we held last year was also free and fair despite attempts by some people to wrongly portray NEC as being biased," he said.
Lubuva said he was aware some people simply wanted the electoral commission to have the word "independent" in part its name to convince them that it was truly independent.
"Our country has a free and fair electoral commission, unlike other countries that have electoral commissions with the name 'independent' but those electoral commissions are not free from interference," he said.
A veteran Dar es salaam-based journalist and political commentator, Jenerali Ulimwengu, last month triggered heated discussion in social media platforms with his sharp criticism of former president Jakaya Kikwete for the way his government handled the constitution review process.
Ulimwengu blasted the former president for 'squandering' public funds on the failed constitution review process.
"He (Kikwete) should come and explain ... if former ministers were taken to court for causing a loss to the government, honourable Jakaya Kikwete should also be taken to court to answer charges of occasioning a huge loss to the government and destroying the hopes of citizens ... by the failure to get a new constitution."
The Kikwete government spent over 100 billion/- on the constitutional review process.
It remains to be seen if President Magufuli's government will start a fresh constitutional review process or pick up from where the Kikwete administration left off with a draft proposed Constitution that was rejected by opposition parties and activists.
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