Tanzania’s main opposition party has been banned from participating in this year’s general election because its leaders are charged with treason.
Ramadhani Kailima, election director of the Independent National Election Commission, said Shadema failed to sign a code of conduct document expiring on Saturday, meaning the party was disqualified from the October election.
Last week, Chadema leader Tundu Lissu was arrested after a rally in southern Tanzania and charged with treason, calling for election reforms.
The CCM Party, which has ruled in Tanzania since 1977, is expected to retain power after the latest developments.
“No party that has not signed a code of conduct will participate in the general election,” Kailima said on Saturday.
Earlier on Saturday, Chadema had said it would not attend the conduct signing ceremony, part of the driving force behind its voting reform.
The country will vote in parliament and presidential elections, where Lissu is expected to challenge the current President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
When Hassan first came to power in 2021, her ex-boy, John Magufuli, was praised for turning around some of her more authoritarian tendencies.
Since then, campaigners and opposition parties accuse the Hassan government of intensifying its crackdown on political opponents and in the capacity of arresting and kidnapping of opposition members. The government denied the allegations and began an investigation into the kidnapping.
CCM or Chama Cha Mapinduzi is one of Africa’s longest reorganized parties and has ruled Tanzania for more than fifty years.
Under the slogan “No reform, no elections”, Lissu believes that there is no possibility of a free and fair election in the event of a change in elections held in Tanzania.
Lissu said the composition of the Election Commission needs to be changed and should not include those directly appointed by Hassan.
Authorities accused Lissu of seeking to undermine the election and incite rebellion.
He has been detained and the treason case was adjourned until April 24. His attorney Rugemeleza Nshala told Reuters that the allegations were politically motivated, adding: “You can’t separate the allegations from politics.”
Opposition leaders have been arrested several times and survived the assassination attempt in 2017, with his vehicle being shot 16 times.
He then exiled, returning briefly in 2020, against Magufuli in the general election that year. After the result was announced, he left, complaining about the supposed violation.
He then returned again in 2023, after the changes proposed by Samia, her government said it was intended to allow greater opposition to freedom.
