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The Political Parties Act

Archive 18 Jan 2019 | open government

Twaweza is working with other civil society organisations to challenge the proposed amendments to the Political Parties Act.

On 17 January, we presented our views on the amendments to the Parliamentary Committee for Legal and Constitutional Affairs. We are now working towards raising awareness among other MPs, fellow civil society organisations, media and the general public.

The major issues with the proposed changes are:

  1. The amendments grant sweeping discretionary powers to the Registrar
  2. The amendments criminalise or regulate legitimate political activities and expressions
  3. There are severe penalties throughout the amendments for administrative offenses
  4. There is little recourse for political parties and limited checks and balances on the work of the Registrar in the amendments
  5. The amendments are drafted in vague language without clear definitions, allowing for multiple interpretations and possibilities for abuse

Interested actors can read:

The Political Parties Act

The proposed amendments

An overview of why the amendments matter

A summary of our joint submission to the parliamentary committee

The full joint submission (with Legal and Human Rights Centre, Tanganyika Law Society, Centre for Strategic Litigation, the Media Council of Tanzania, Waandishi wa Habari za Maendeleo Zanzibar)

Read more: accountability civic space open government political parties Tanzania

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