Successful Nonviolent Conflict can protect voter’s votes during elections!

Sealing the ballot can to protect fraud

By Frederick Fussi.

Votes are normally used to put our leaders on power, for members of parliament to acquire parliamentary seats and the head of state and government to acquire his statesmanship seat in the state house. This process ought to be free and fair but there are some circumstances that lead the incumbent politicians of the so said seats to manipulate the voice of votes and immorally plots on distorting the results of the votes intended to put in power accountable and responsible leaders.

The manipulation of votes to distort the genuine results is what pushed me to write my experience and other oberseved experience on how nonviolent conflict worked to protect the voter’s votes in some constituencies during the 2010 General Elections in Tanzania.

Nonviolent conflict can be understood in various dimensions and circumstances in which it is aimed to be applied upon. For this case the nonviolent concept will be drawn from the definition provided by International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC). Thus nonviolent conflict is defined as a powerful way for people to fight for their rights, freedom, justice, self-determination and accountable government.

Voters protesting for results in a nonviolent conflict way

For this case, on protecting the votes we can view the nonviolent conflict as a powerful way that had worked immensely during the 2010 General Election more than any other times of multi-party democracy in Tanzania. For instance in constituencies like Ubungo, Ilemela, Nyamagana,  Kahama, Arusha, Busanda and Tarime, voters decided to wage a nonviolent struggle to protect their votes against manipulations from the allegedly puppets of the ruling party and in some instances allegedly traitors of democracy within the electoral administration in Tanzania. (Refer to the news of the Citizen, on Tuesday, 02 November 2010 with a title, “Chaos reign as NEC delay poll results”)

The so called, chaos of elections are results of unreasonable use of excessive power by the state cohesive apparatus mostly uses police to intimidate the intension of voters to protect their votes against manipulations, and consequently distort the intension which primarily and genuinely is aimed to be nonviolent but ends in chaos as the state interfere with a weak argument of ensuring peace and order but surprisingly the nonviolent strategy normally co-exist within peace and order, and this had been observed not only in Tanzania but even other parts of the world!

The magnitude of the nonviolent conflict over protection of the votes had not been the same as compared to elections in 1995, 2000 and 2005 were few parliamentary seats were won by the opposition as the result of failure to wage a successful nonviolent conflict to protect the votes.

It has been observed that at all constituencies where the opposition won the parliamentary seats excessive voters nonviolent conflict occurred. Perhaps, this is right strategy that if well prepared, planned, organized and effectively practiced during elections can be used by opposition to acquire even the post of head of the state and government if at all it has proven success to acquire more parliamentary seats. At areas where nonviolent conflict on protecting votes was not applied the opposition did not win as well.

This is a sign and manifestation of the fact that there are great injustices done over the people’s rights to choose their preferred leaders, thus an agenda for free and fair election can bring together a powerful nonviolent struggle that can widely and countrywide promote true democracy.

Based on the experience of opposition won constituencies at the 2010 General Elections, as we advocate for voters solidarity to protect their rights and obtain justice for the true free and fair election, a nonviolent conflict is the only solution and a right time strategy ahead to bring hope of peaceful power exchange in Tanzania. This is possible and it can be done, play your role as a responsible citizen.

This article was also published by the CITIZEN ON SUNDAY on 17 Feb 2013, Click here to view it