Coalition Governments Don’t Work

They say in politics there is no permanent enemy or permanent friend, just permanent interests. Indeed this statement has proven to be true when this week during the final session of ACT's party convention we saw Zitto Kabwe on stage lifting the hands of Tundu Lissu to the right and Bernard Membe to the left.

It is just a few years ago in 2015 when Tundu Lissu as the chief lawyer of Chadema announced to the public that Zitto Kabwe had been stripped off his party membership. This came two years after they had stripped Zitto Kabwe off of all his party leadership positions. This was the culmination of a few years of infighting which Mr. Kabwe himself had stated that it sterned from him having wanted to challenge in 2014 Mr. Freeman Mbowe for the chairmanship of the main opposition party. On their part Chadema accused Mr. Kabwe and another member of the party for going against the party's constitution, bilaws, principles and protocols. I won't get into the details of this squabble because it is well documented.

Whichever side of this you choose to believe, one thing is very clear, Mr. Kabwe had a bitter falling off with his fellow leaders at Chadema, especially with Mr. Mbowe. Zitto Kabwe felt he was punished for his ambitions and Mbowe was clearly threatened by a possible challenge from him.

Zitto Kabwe left Chadema, formed ACT-Wazalendo, reclaimed his parliament sit and the rest is history right? Wrong! Fast forward to the present and Zitto Kabwe is the biggest advocate of a grand coalition between the party he founded and the party that chased him away. We all know that saying forgive but don't forget. Its possible that Zitto has forgiven his former party for what they did to him but I highly doubt he has forgotten.

My question is simple. It is easy to put aside your differences for the sake of gaining power BUT what happens hypothetically when that power is gained? How would the powersharing work and would they trust each other enough to divide amongst themselves sensitive ministries and sensitive positions? Our constitution allows for a strong presidency so will the hypothetical president feel secure or will he use his new office to consolidate power? Or will the president be undermined by his coalition partners?

I would challenge my readers to study the history of governance in Italy. Since the end of the Second World War the country has relied on political parties to build coalitions in order to form government. You know what is the avarage lifespan of government in Italy? Well from 1946 up to 2016 Italy had a total of 65 governments. That is 65 governments in the space of 70 years, almost a new government each year.

I will give you an example of another country which relies heavily on political party coalitions to govern, Israel. The average length of government in Israel is two years. What is worse is the time it takes to form these governments as the winning coalition irons out details of government posts and agendas.

Both examples I have given are of countries with a strong economy. Imagine such instability in a less economically advanced country such as Tanzania?

But I am not done yet. Despite the key players in this supposed grand coalition of Chadema and ACT having been political enemies just a few short years ago (I have highlighted the past relationship between Tundu Lissu and Zitto Kabwe but also not that Bernard Membe was until recently a member of CCM), they are also ideologically opposed to each other. Infact ideologically ACT is closer to CCM then it is to Chadema. ACT leans towards Socialism and Democratic socialism while Chadema leans towards Conservatism and Economic liberalism. If you can get passed the egos and ambitions of the individual players, how do you then reconcile the ideologies of the two parties into a functioning government?

For any coalition to work their needs to be more than just a desire to gain power. A coalition partner is like a marriage, there needs to be natural chemistry and compatibility. Campaigns last just a few months but the winner holds the fate of all 60 million Tanzanians for the next five years. Let us not experiment with the lives of Tanzanians and the future of the nation. Our country is a peaceful country which has not faced any civil unrest and thus it does not need a partnership of convenience between politicians seeking to gain power.

Thomas Joel Kibwana.