According to the country’s election authority, the main opposition party in Tanzania has been barred from the forthcoming general elections after it declined to endorse an electoral code of conduct.
The East African country has increasingly restricted its opposition as the general election approaches in October. The opposition Chadema party has accused President Samia Suluhu Hassan of reverting to the oppressive measures her predecessor, John Magufuli, used.
Chadema leader Tundu Lissu, who was detained and charged with treason earlier this week, has previously stated that his party would not participate in the elections without electoral reform.
On Saturday, Chadema announced that the party’s secretary-general, John Mnyika, would skip an Independent National Elections Commission (INEC) meeting to sign the government’s electoral code of conduct.
According to their statement, the decision was made “due to the absence of a written reply” to the party’s “suggestions and demands for crucial electoral reforms. ”
After the meeting, INEC’s Director of Elections, Ramadhani Kailima, said, “Any party that did not sign today will be prohibited from participating in the general or any other elections for the next five years.”
He did not refer to Chadema specifically; the party has yet to respond to INEC’s announcement.
Tanzania is set to hold presidential and national assembly elections in October. President Hassan’s party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), won sweeping victories in local elections last year.
Chadema claimed that those elections had been manipulated and intended to petition the high court for reforms before the upcoming elections.
Lissu warned last year that Chadema would “impede the elections through confrontation” unless changes to the electoral system were made. The ruling party has consistently ignored the opposition’s demands.
Initially, Hassan was praised for relaxing Magufuli’s restrictions on the opposition and the media in the nation of 67 million people.
However, human rights organizations and Western governments have condemned what they view as a resurgence of repression, highlighted by the arrests of Chadema politicians as well as the abduction and murder of opposition members.
