Tanzania’s principal opposition candidate, Tundu Lissu, rejected the figures announced by the National Electoral Commission, which shows incumbent President John Magufuli well in the lead in the vote count, calling them ‘fraudulent’.
Speaking at a press conference in Dar es Salaam, the Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema) candidate said, “We do not recognize what happened yesterday because it was marred by irregularities in all stages.” He remarked, “There was unprecedented levels of fraud and use of force in this election that stole the will of the people to elect the leaders of their choice. What we witnessed on Wednesday defeats even Tanzania’s own laws and regulations that govern elections.”
Lissu added, “The results that have been announced since yesterday and which the Electoral Commission continues to announce today are, therefore, illegitimate. They do not reflect the true will of the millions of Tanzanian people who turned up at polling stations.”
He said that neither he nor his party will accept the poll results and in fact called on citizens to “take the matter in their own hands” through “peaceful mass demonstrations”.
In certain areas, Magufuli is shown as having gathered five times the votes of all the other 14 candidates combined, drawing suspicion that the results are being rigged in favor of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party.
Zitto Kabwe, the leader of ACT-Wazalendo, another opposition party, appeared to join hands with the Chadema candidate when he said, “Tanzania in full-blown one-party dictatorship. We shall resist this.” He alleged that there was “widespread rigging” and called on the international community to “not recognize this Tanzanian election”.
Earlier this week, the ACT-Wazalendo party in the semi-autonomous archipelago Zanzibar alleged that several ballots had been “pre-marked” for the CCM. In fact, the CCM has been in power across the country since Tanzania gained independence in 1961.
However, whatever result the electoral commission announces is final and cannot be challenged in court. In fact, last year, Tanzania withdrew from the clauses of the African Court of Human and People’s Rights that requires signatories to allow “every election result to be contestable in a court of law”.
The Magufuli administration has been criticized for silencing political dissent in the lead up to this election. Since entering office five years ago, he has fast-tracked a legislation that now bans all forms of digital protests, whereby organizing, planning, or even supporting any form of demonstration on the internet has now been deemed illegal. The new legislation also places a ban on sharing information about any infectious disease outbreaks without government permission. In fact, the ban even extends to private message platforms such as WhatsApp. Simultaneously, restrictions on hate speech on the topics of sexuality and gender have now been removed.
In addition, the ruling government has restricted local and international observers from monitoring the election. Although the National Electoral Commission approved 145 NGOs and 97 other organizations to observe the election, it has curiously rescinded this provision to 100 other such organizations that have traditionally conducted election monitoring in Tanzania.
Moreover, major social media platforms have been blocked and are only accessible through virtual private networks (VPN), further stymying political discussion and transparency.
Opposition Alleges Vote-Rigging After Preliminary Results Show President Magufuli Leading
In certain areas, Magufuli is shown as having gathered five times the votes of all the other 14 candidates combined, drawing suspicion that the results are being rigged in favor of the ruling party.
October 30, 2020
Tanzanian opposition presidential candidate Tundu Lissu SOURCE: AFP