Variables de Estudio

Political Parties in French West Africa; Clarendon

3.

Press, Oxford, 1964.

Founded in February, 1949.

Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia, the origins of political organization are traceable in the incorporation of the BSAC and its activities in

southern Africa. The creation of the Union of South Africa and the establishment of a Senate of thirtytwo members and a House of Assembly of onehundred and twentyone members who had to be, and who were to be elected by, persons described as 'British subjects of European descent', stimulated political organization among white settlers in the Union in particular, and, sub-Sahara Africa, in general. The settlers' political mobilization triggered African political organization to protect their indigenous rights. The former President of Tanzania's premise of the origins of African political parties, was that

The European and American parties came into being as the result of existing social and economic divisions the second party being formed to challenge the monopoly of power by some aristocratic o r capitalist group. Our parties had a different origin. They were not formed to challenge any ruling group of our own people; they were formed to challenge foreigners who ruled over us. They were, therefore, not political

'parties' - i.e. factions - b ut nationalist movements. And from the outset they represented the

interests and aspirations of the whole nation.^

African political organization came into being as a result of social and economic pressures exerted by colonial rule and the division between the white settlers and the natives. African political parties were 'political parties' in that they were formed to assume political power from the colonial rulers, and, to resist political domination of the natives by the white settlers. But these were 'European' form of political organization imported into the African society. Max Webber's v i e w of the evolution of political parties was that it followed three

1. UK: South Africa Act, 1909, 9 Edw. 7, c. 9, secs.

26(d) and 44(c).

2. Nyerere, J . K . , "Democracy and the party system", Tanganyika Standard;

January, 16-18, 1963.

stages; first when political parties were pure followings of the aristocracy, changing their allegiance as the great noble families which led them, changed theirs. Ihe second stage was the parties of nobles. These arose with the rising power of the bourgeois and

consisted of formal local associations of the propertied and cultural circles, held together not by a party machine, but members of the party with seats in the legislature. The third stage was of formally organized national parties whose power did not rest with the parliamentary party or formal local associations or assemblies, but by party bureaucrats, organizers and especially a party leader who had shown the capacity to win support of a mass electorate. This stage Webber described at

'plebiscitarian democracy'.^

The emergence of African political organization in Zambia began at the plebiscitarian i stage in that it was aimed at mass

mobilization against the prevailing political system. The traditional African systems of government had no notion of 'political party' either as an instrument of government or opposition. Although the struggle for self-government which prompted African political organization was wedged as a 'national s t r u g g l e ' , no political party emerged that was wholly identified with the 'nation'. They remained political movements and could be included in the definition of 'political party'.

Definitions of 'Political Party'.

Definitions are useful in the delimitation of the subject being studied. There is no general or standard definition of 'political party' Definitions of 'political party' are, therefore, legion. It has been said that to be a 'party' to something means identification with one group and a differentiation from another or other groups. In that sense

1. N e u m a n n , S ., o p . c i t . , quoting Ma x W e b b e r .

every political party is a group separated from another or other g r o u p s : "A one-party system (le parte uni q u e ) is a contradiction in itself. Only the existence of at least one other competitive group makes a political system real."^ Although this is description of a political system and not a definition of a political party, it does shed some light on the role of political parties - competiting with each other for political power. A rather detailed definition of a political party is one in which the essential elements are continuity

in organization, regularized relationship between local and national units, determination of the leaders to capture and hold power alone or in coalition with others and membership.2

For the purposes of this study, the following is adopted as the appropriate definition of a 'political party', viz

Political parties are associations formally organized with the explicit and declared purpose of acquiring and/or maintaining legal control, either singly or in coalition or electoral competition, with other similar associations, over the personnel and the policy of the government of an actual or

prospective state.3

One of the important elements in this definition is that w h i c h affords the status of 'political party' to political organizations formed to wrestle political power from a colonial power in the pursuit of founding a future sovereign state. The African political movements that fought for self-government would qualify as 'political parties' under this definition. The definition also accords the status of a

'political party' to the only one political party allowed to operate under a One-Party system (le parte uni q u e ) . During colonial rule in NR because of electoral restrictions, African political organizations did

1. Neumann, S., o p . c i t . , p. 359 (Brackets supplied).

2. LaPalombara, J . , and Weiner, M . , Political Parties and Political D e v e l o p m e n t ; Princeton, 1966, p. 6.

3. Coleman, J.S. and Rosberg, C.G., Political Parties and National Integration in Tropical A f r i c a ; Berkeley UP, 1966, p. 2.

30.

not participate in elections until 1959. Hie above definition includes such organizations as 'political parties' committed to assumption of political control of w h a t was then a prospective sovereign state.

Although political commentators have produced a legion of definitions of 'political p a r t y t h e law has been lacking in this respect. In most African territories administered by the British, the administrators confronted by militant nationalist political organizations demanding self-government, introduced legislation aimed at not giving2

the organizations some legal status, but to provide the administrators with legal powers to deal with the activities of the organizations.

The legislation did not define 'political parties' b u t 'socities', to mean associations of individuals and not companies, cooperative socities, or trade unions. This definition found its way into some Constitutions, for instance, that of Nigeria of 1978 which provided that A s s o c i a t i o n ' means a body of persons corporate or incorporate "who agree together for any common purpose, and includes an association formed for any ethnic, social, cultural, occupational or religous purposes", and Apolitical party' meant any "association whose activities include canvassing for votes in support of a candidate for election to the office of

President .... membership of a legislative house or local government 3

council". There was, however, a divergence between w h a t the law defined

1. Lawson, K . , The Comperatlve Study of Political P a r t i e s ; St. Martin's-Press, N.Y., 1976, p. 3; Price, J.H., Political

Institutions ofT'West Africa; Hutchinson, 1978, p. 14 . , ■ . . . — ■ ■■■■«■

2. Tanganyika: Soci e t i e s Ordinance, 1954, No. 11, Cap. 337 and NR, Societies Ordinance, 1955, No. 43, Cap. 105, sec. 2.

3. Nigerlai Constitution of Nigeria Act, 1978, No. 25, Art* 209.

A r t icle 201 required that before a political party engaged In any activities i-t should register with the Federal Electoral Commission, on the implementation of these provisions see: Nwanko, G.O.,, "Political Parties' and their Role in the Electoral Process-: The Nigerian Experiment w i t h the Presidential System of Government", Journal of Constitutional and Parliamentary Studies';

Vol. XVII, Nos. 3 and 4, July-December, 1983, p. 4.

as 'political parties' and other organizations that also participated in politics, for i n s t a n c e , affluent members of various communities,

'home town'-based social clubs, youth and women organizations as well as the town unions and age-grade associations could sponsor candidates of their choice for nomination by parties which they perce i v e d as

likely to win most of the votes of people in their various constituencies.

The problem was that definition and/or status of political party was arbitrarily determined by registration.

The One-Party Constitutions adopted by some African States do not define the political party preserved by the system; that is left to be regulated by (former colonial) legislation and the common law. A t common law a 'political party' has recently been described as

an association between two or more p e r sons bound together for one or more purposes, not being business purposes, by mutual undertaking each having mutual duties and

obligations, and was an organisation which had rules Identifying where its control rested and the terms on which it could be joined or left; that the bond of union between the members of such, association had to be

contractual and the agreement which brought the contract about should have been made on some identifiable

occasion or in some identifiable c i r c u m s t a n c e s . ^ This definition accords the status of 'political party' to a political organization under colonial rule or in an independent state, or under a multi-party or one-party system. The view that one-party

states in Afr i c a have "become in many plac e s no-party state", 3 is a

contradiction in terms. The point purported to be made is however, discernible, namely that the integration of the party and government and state institutions might result In the withering away of the party.

1. Nwanko, G.O., o p . c i t ., p. 5.

2. Conservative and Unionist Central Office v. Burrell (Inspector of T a x e s ) /1982/ 1 WLR 522, pe r Lawton LJ at p. 525.

3. Wallerstein, I., "The Decline of the Party' in Single Party African States" in LaPalombara, J., and Weiner, M., loc. c i t ., p. 214, s u p r a , p. 29.

32.

Some writers have, on the other hand, contended that a state ruled by a 'communist p a r t y 1 (often a one-party state), is a 'police state' or a 'party state'.^ Except in those situations in which all political parties or organizations have been proscribed and political activity prohibited by law, does a state become or could be described as a

'non-party state'. A One-Party system retains one political party which functions as an entity on its own separate from the Government.

This study, therefore, is a study of the legal aspects of a political party's status and role in a One-Party State.

CONCLUSION.

The origins and development of political parties in the U K show a steady progressive shift in the political leadership from the aristocrats to the common people and from a non-political party system to a multi-party system. Political organization was and still is based on the laissez-faire principle - uninhibited freedom of expression, assembly and association, of forming and belonging to political parties etc. which was imported to the older Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand. In these countries political organization emerged unhampered by legal constraints. In African countries, the position was different. The African traditional system of government and political organization revolved around the institution of chieftaincy which did not develop an institution known as 'political p a r t y 1, either as an instrument of government or opposition to government. On the other hand, colonial administrators did not allow

the policy of lais9ez faire to apply to African political organization.

Accordingly, they introduced legislation to control political organization in general and African parties in particular. However, the politically organized

1. Loeber, D.A. (Ed.), Ruling Communist Parties and Their Status Under L a w ; Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht, 1986, a number of such writers cited at p. (xviii).

masses emerged supreme; their 'party' replacing both the traditional rule and colonial administration as the machinery of government. The argument advanced in justifying a one-party system of government in some African countries that that system was more consonant w i t h the African traditional rule than a form of government ba s e d on a two o r multi-party system, is used to conceal the political party's successful coup d'etat of traditional rule. There are no similarities b e t w e e n the two systems of government. The political party is a European political institution whose origins, status and role are not determined by any African customary rules or customs, but by the common law and statutory rules

It is not easy to understand the system of government of any country without some knowledge of the country's history. Muc h o f the explanations of any political system depend on an explanation o f the past or how the past affects the present. In order to facilitate the understanding of the role of U NIP to-day, the following Chapter looks at the emergence of institutions of government and political pa r t y system before and after UNIP was formed. During the colonial e r a in NR political parties h a d no clear legal status. The reason for that was not hard to see. In the metropolitan country (UK) whose laws and political ideals the settlers in NR emulated, the Crown, govern m e n t departments, local authorities and public corporations h ad legal

personality. Political parties h a d neither legal personality no r capacity;

they were taken for granted. In the post-independence era, the political party in Z a m b i a f although no t y et dressed in full legal dress, h as

assumed an important role. This important role, however, cannot be

understood except in the context in which the Party emerged, a s s u m e d political power and has changed the Constitution of Zambia to become the supreme

institution of the government of the Republic.

1. Infra, p. 90.

34.

CHAPTER II.

THE CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT AN D EMERGENCE OF POLITICAL PARTIES