Tanzania's ruling party wins landslide victory in local vote

 

Residents looks for their name on voters' lists before casting their vote during the Tanzanian local election at a polling station in Kigoma, on November 27, 2024. [AFP]

Tanzania's ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, which has dominated the east African nation's politics for decades, won more than 98 percent of seats in this week's local elections, official results showed Thursday.

Widely seen as a key test for the country's democratic institutions ahead of presidential elections next year, the vote on Wednesday was marked by claims of rigging and incidents of violence.

The main opposition Chadema party said three of its members were killed in incidents linked to the vote.

Tanzania was electing more than 80,000 local leaders who wield considerable power.

Officials results showed that the CCM of President Samia Suluhu Hassan scored more than 98 percent with 18 other parties sharing the remaining seats.

"These elected leaders should be immediately sworn in," Minister of State Mohamed Mchengerwa who is in charge of the polls said, announcing the results.

The vote was Hassan's first test at the ballot box ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections next October.

Emergency opposition meeting 

Chadema on Thursday said it had called an "emergency meeting" for Friday to discuss the polls.

The party would issue its verdict on the election after the meeting, it said in a statement ahead of the results.

Chadema also protested last week against what it said was the unfair disqualification of several of its candidates.

Tanzania, a nation of 61 million people, has long been regarded as one of Africa's most stable democracies.

The CCM, and its predecessor Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), have ruled Tanzania since independence in 1961.

It has been accused of increased repression  in the run-up to the vote.

Hassan took office after the sudden death of her authoritarian predecessor John Magufuli in 2021.

She was initially feted for easing restrictions that Magufuli had imposed on the opposition and the media in the country of around 67 million people.

But rights groups and Western governments have criticised what they see as renewed repression ahead of the elections, with opposition politicians facing frequent arrests, as well as abductions and murder.

The Catholic Church on Thursday condemned the violence, saying the country was going "through a trying period filled with pain and suffering".

"This is an evil, but unfortunately, we do not see it being strongly condemned," Archbishop Jude Thaddaeus Ruwa'ichi said.

The opposition boycotted the polls in 2019 citing violence and intimidation, paving the way for a clean CCM sweep of the seats.