Ramadhani Kailima, director of elections at the Independent National Elections Commission, said that Chadema had failed to sign a code of conduct document that was due on Saturday, meaning the party was disqualified from October’s elections.
Last week, Chadema’s leader Tundu Lissu was arrested and charged with treason following a rally in southern Tanzania at which he called for electoral reforms.
The CCM party, which has governed Tanzania since 1977, is expected to retain power following the latest developments.
“Any party that did not sign the code of conduct will not participate in the general election,” Mr Kailima said on Saturday, adding that Chadema would also be banned from taking part in any by-elections until 2030.
Earlier on Saturday, Chadema had said that it would not participate in a code of conduct signing ceremony, as part of its drive for voting reforms.
The country is due to vote in parliamentary and presidential elections, where Lissu was expected to challenge incumbent President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
When Hassan first came to power in 2021, after the death of her predecessor John Magufuli, she was praised for reversing some of his more authoritarian tendencies.
Campaigners and opposition parties have since accused Hassan’s government of an intensifying crackdown on political opponents, citing arrests and abductions of opposition members. The government has denied the accusations and launched an investigation into the abductions.
One of the longest-reigning parties in Africa, CCM – or Chama Cha Mapinduzi – has governed Tanzania for over five decades.
Under the slogan “No Reforms, No Election”, Lissu has argued that there was no possibility of free and fair elections without changes to how elections are run in Tanzania.
Credit
BBC News