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- May 11, 2013
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Chadema leaders at EACJ yesterday. From left Ally Bananga (Sombetini councillor, Arusha) Edson Mbogoro (lead counsel for the applicant😉, Anthony Komu, who won the case and a senior Chadema official from Moshi identified by only one name Malamia.
The future of Tanzania MPs in the East Africa Legislative Assembly (Eala) was thrown into uncertainty yesterday following a court decision that found that the procedure to elect them was flawed.
The East African Court of Justice (EACJ) declared in Arusha in a landmark decision that rules were openly broken in Parliament during the election of the nine MPs in the regional legislative assembly.
The EACJ decision wraps up a case filed by a senior member of the main opposition party, Chadema.
Mr Anthony Calist Komu challenged the omission of the party's MPs in 2012. Chadema, which has a superior number of legislators in the House in relation to other opposition parties, could not manage even a single slot in the regional assembly.
The EACJ yesterday agreed with the party's lawyers that the omission of the party's candidates in the contest was in flagrant violation of Article 50 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community (EAC).
The move now accords Chadema the evidence and momentum to push for the nullification of the election of the MPs in another case opened at the High Court in Dodoma seeking their nullification. The EACJ has no powers to throw out the MPs.
According to the court, Tanzania's Parliament not only failed to comply with the principle of proportional representation in picking the Eala lawmakers but also allowed candidates from political parties not represented in the National Assembly to contest the polls.
Mr Komu filed the case on June 15, 2012, having unsuccessfully sought election as a Tanzania representative in Eala in elections held on April 17, 2012.
The EAC Treaty requires the national assembly of each partner state to elect nine Eala members to represent "as much as it is feasible", the various political parties represented in the specific national assembly and other special interest groups.
According to Chadema, had the proper formula been applied, Candidate Komu--as the sole candidate offered by the party, would have been elected to the regional House.
Instead, he argued, skewed rules ensured that he was not elected, paving the way for candidates offered by "smaller" parties such as Civic United Front and NCCR-Mageuzi to get into the Eala.
The election of Tanzanian Eala lawmakers, he added, was in violation of Article 50 of the EAC Treaty when the Tanzania Democratic Alliance was allowed to field a candidate despite having no representation in the House.
Source: The Citizen
Future of our MPs in Eala bleak - East Africa News - thecitizen.co.tz
