Election in Tanzania: The Battle of Neoliberal Agendas

Details: Published on Saturday, 24 October 2020 03:24; Written by editor

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A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 2224 ... October 24, 2020
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Election in Tanzania: The Battle of Neoliberal Agendas

Nizar K. Visram

Tanzania will be going to the polls on 28 October 2020 to elect the president, national assembly and local councillors. The semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar is, in addition, to elect its president and house of representatives. From a population of 55 million, over 30 million are registered to vote at more than 80,000 polling stations.

Some 15 presidential contenders have entered the race for the State House, two of them in the front line. They are the incumbent Dr John Magufuli from the CCM (Chama Cha Mapinduzi) party, and Tundu Lissu from CHADEMA (Chama cha Democrasia na Maendeleo).

In Zanzibar, it is a two-horse race between Dr Hassan Mwinyi (CCM) and Seif Sharrif Hamad from ATC (the Alliance for Change and Transparency-Patriotic).

The ruling CCM party has dominated the political scene since independence in 1961. After the restoration of multi-party politics in 1992, it has won all the five elections so far.

In 2005, CCM presidential candidate Jakaya Kikwete got... a landslide victory with over 80% of the popular vote, but in 2010 he managed only 61%. Then came Magufuli in 2015, and he scraped through with 58 per cent. This was the lowest margin in the country’s elections.