By Our Correspondent, DAR ES SALAAM Tanzania
Mainland
Tanzania and the semi-autonomous Zanzibar are due to hold elections for
president, legislators and local officials on Wednesday.A staunch critic of Magufuli, Tundu Lissu is the candidate for the main opposition party Chadema
Incumbent President John Magufuli
is seeking re-election on the mainland among a crowded field of 15 contenders.
He is the candidate of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, which has
uninterruptedly governed Tanzania – along with its predecessor, the Tanzania
African National Union party (TANU) – since independence in 1961.
More than 29 million people have
registered to cast their ballots. Polling stations are due to open at 7am
(04:00 GMT) and close at 4pm (01:00 GMT).
In the run-up to the polls,
opposition parties complained of threats and repression as the election
commission disqualified dozens of opposition parliamentary candidates, while
rights groups accused the government of curtailing free expression and press
freedom.
Voting will also be held in the
semi-autonomous Indian Ocean archipelago of Zanzibar, which has a history of
contested polls and post-election violence.
Magufuli, 60, is seeking a second
and final five-year term in office. While opinion polls have been banned,
making it difficult to predict the outcome, many analysts see Magufuli as
having strong chances of winning re-election.
A former minister of public works nicknamed “The Bulldozer” by his supporters for his no-nonsense approach and his ability to get things done, Magufuli has pledged to continue the fight against corruption and wasteful spending of public money.
On the campaign
trail, he has also touted his government’s record on improving the country’s
infrastructure.President John Magufuli (waving) is seeking re-election
Throughout his presidency, Magufuli
has spent much of his time touring Tanzania and meeting citizens. He has even
gained something of a reputation for resolving citizens’ grievances on the spot
while on tour, often issuing orders to local government representatives live on
camera at roadside.
Critics, however, accuse him of narrowing democratic space and stifling dissent since his election win in 2015, including by barring opposition parties from holding most public gatherings.
Coverage of Wednesday’s election
will be restricted after the government amended laws to require international
radio and television broadcasters to have licenced local partners to get the
regulatory body’s permission to air content, Amnesty International has said.
Magufuli was born in Chato district
on the shores of Lake Victoria, where in 1995 he was elected to parliament to
represent the area. A father of five, he is a devout Catholic who often likes
singing in church choirs.
A staunch critic of Magufuli, Tundu
Lissu is the candidate for the main opposition party Chadema.
The 52-year-old’s hopes of causing
an upset were boosted after his recent endorsement by leaders of the
ACT-Wazalendo party, in what has been dubbed as a “loose” coalition between the
country’s two leading opposition parties.
In 2017, Lissu survived an assassination attempt in the administrative capital, Dodoma, when he was shot 16 times by unknown attackers.
He spent nearly three years in exile, first in
neighbouring Kenya and then Belgium, where he underwent more than a dozen
surgeries.
A lawyer by training and a fan of reggae music, Lissu entered politics in 2010, winning a parliamentary seat to represent his home region of Singida East.
Over the years, he developed a
strong reputation as a fierce government critic and became the chief whip of
Chadema.
Earlier this month,
Lissu told reporters that the opposition was “not going to accept
stolen elections”.
“We will call millions of our
people onto the streets who will take mass democratic and peaceful action to
defend the integrity of the election, to defend their voice – if it comes to
that,” he said.
Other presidential challengers
include former Foreign Minister Bernard Membe and economist-turned-politician
Ibrahim Lipumba.
Zanzibar, where some 566,000 people
have registered to take part in the polls, wrapped up its election campaigns on
Sunday.
The archipelago has been governed
by the CCM since it joined with the then -Tanganyika to form Tanzania in 1964.
President Ali Mohamed Shein is stepping down after serving two terms in office.
Hussein Ali Hassan Mwinyi, son
of former Tanzanian President Ali Hassan Mwinyi, is the candidate of the
governing party.
He will face opposition leader Seif
Sharif Hamad, who is attempting for the sixth time to take office following the
introduction of multiparty democracy in 1995. Hamad alleges that every vote was
stolen from him.
As part of the main opposition
parties’ informal collaboration, Chadema chair Freeman Mbowe said earlier this
month that his party would withdraw its presidential candidate in Zanzibar and
back Hamad, of ACT-Wazalendo, which seeks a new constitution that would grant
the archipelago “a full autonomy”.
Zanzibar has a history of tense
elections and violence. On Sunday, the ACT-Wazalendo’s campaign manager
said he had been seized and threatened by armed men, while a parliamentary
candidate went missing.
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