John Magufuli has been re-elected to serve for a second term as the President of Tanzania. Despite the allegations of election fraud, the ruling party, Chama cha Mapinduzi won 253 parliamentary seats out of 261, achieving upsets in opposition strongholds by wide margins. The Supporters of the ruling party celebrated in the streets while there was no immediate comment from the president.
On 30th October, the national electoral commission while announcing the results said even though 29 million people registered to vote only 14.8 million people voted. John Magufuli got 12.5 million votes, while Tundu Lissu the top opposition candidate got 1.9 million votes.
The top opposition candidate has rejected the results saying “widespread irregularities” and called for peaceful demonstrations. Besides, the opposition has said that in the semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar, a thousand observers were turned away from polling stations, and a minimum of 12 people was killed on the eve of the vote. They insisted that the Internet and text-messaging services slowed dramatically during the elections.
The key opposition parties, Tundu’s CHADEMA and ACT Wazalendo, had a plan to hold a joint press conference on Saturday, as reported by one of their spokesmen. They complained about the widespread election irregularities such as double-voting and ballot box-seizing by security forces and other authorities.
The United States has said that “irregularities and the overwhelming margins of victory raise serious doubts about the credibility of the results announced.” Unlike the other years, only a few international election observers were present. Nevertheless, Semistocles Kaijage, the electoral commission chair, insisted that all the votes were legitimate in late Friday’s announcement.
During an assessment released on Friday, the elections watch of Tanzania said that the vote “marked the most significant backsliding in Tanzania’s democratic credentials.” The heavy deployment of military and police created a “climate of fear.” As noted by the experts. The group said “The electoral process, so far, falls way below the acceptable international standards for holding free and fair elections.”
President Magufuli has said that he deserves to serve for another term because Tanzania has achieved lower-middle-income status during his first term. Tanzania is among Africa’s most populous countries with the fastest-growing economies.
Nevertheless, according to the observers, the reputation for democratic ideals In Tanzania is crumbling, and John Magufuli has been accused of severely stifling dissenting voices during his first term.
In 2016, one year after Magufuli became the president, the opposition political gatherings were banned. His government is also targeting media outlets. Before the elections took place, some contestants were arrested, blocked from campaigning and others were disqualified.
John Magufuli has been re-elected as Tanzania’s President.
