Tanzania's main opposition party calls election ban unconstitutional

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania

Tanzania's main opposition party CHADEMA said on Tuesday its disqualification from elections due later this year was unconstitutional, days after its leader was arrested and charged with treason.

CHADEMA failed to sign an election code of conduct document, making it ineligible to contest the presidential and parliamentary polls expected in October, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said on Saturday.

Party leader Tundu Lissu, who survived being shot 16 times in 2017, was charged with treason last week over what prosecutors said was a speech calling on the public to launch a rebellion and disrupt the election.

By charging Lissu with a capital offence and banning his party from contesting the elections the government is likely to draw further scrutiny to its rights record.

CHADEMA's Chief Attorney, Dr. Rugemeleza Nshala, has said that the action is against the Constitution, noting that INEC does not have legal authority to remove any party or candidate from the election race.

"A constitutional right cannot be taken away by a code of conduct created by the National Electoral Commission." said Dr. Nshala.

The Attorney also explained that the new regulations mentioned by INEC have not yet come into force, and the legal schedule does not allow their implementation until one day before the official selection of candidates; a situation that is impossible without the dissolution of Parliament, which is expected to happen at the end of June.

CHADEMA had previously threatened to boycott the elections unless significant reforms are made to an electoral process it says favours the ruling party.

Dr. Rugemeleza Nshala

"Our position is still the same: no reforms, no elections," Nshala said.

Ramadhani Kailima, the Director of the Independent National Electoral Commission said on Saturday in the capital Dodoma that Chadema has been disqualified from this year’s general election and all by-elections for the next five years after refusing to sign a new electoral code of conduct according to the electoral body.

"The electoral code of conduct is crucial in facilitating free and fair elections, and it is essential for all parties to be involved and to sign the code. It applies to the electoral process for the president, members of parliament, and councilors." Insisted Kailima.

Rights campaigners and opposition parties have accused President Samia Hassan's government of an intensifying crackdown on political opponents, citing a string of unexplained abductions and killings.

The government has denied the allegations and has opened an investigation into reported abductions.