Tanzanian parliamentary election, 2015
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The Tanzanian parliamentary election of 2015 was held concurrently with the general election on 25 October 2015. Voting took place in all the 265 constituencies in order to elect Members of Parliament (MPs) to seats in the National Assembly.[1]
In the last election, the nation's dominant ruling party, the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) attained 186 of the 239 constituencies, thus achieving an outright majority.[2] Tanzania uses first-past-the-post voting method for its legislative elections. On 9 July 2015, outgoing President Jakaya Kikwete addressed Parliament for the last time before it being dissolved.[3]
CCM maintained its majority in parliament, but key figures in the previous cabinet suffered defeats in their constituencies.[4]
Background
The outgoing 10th Parliament was dominated by the CCM and led by Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda. The opposition bench was led by Freeman Mbowe and consisted of CHADEMA (49), Civic United Front (35), NCCR–Mageuzi (5), Tanzania Labour Party (1) and United Democratic Party (1).
Twenty-six new constituencies were created by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) and the names of ten constituencies were altered.[5] Four opposition parties with differing ideologies have agreed to form an alliance known as UKAWA and intend to nominate a single candidate in each constituency. The alliance consists of the conservative/centrist Chadema, the liberal Civic United Front (CUF), the social democratic NCCR–Mageuzi and the National League for Democracy (NLD).
More than 2,700 CCM members contested in the party's primaries in order to seek the party's nomination.[6] On 13 August 2015, CCM announced its candidates following its primaries.[7]
Defections
- On 5 July 2015, Said Arfi (Chadema, Mpanda Town) announced his decision to leave his Chadema party.
- In July 2015, Moses Machali (NCCR–M, Kasulu Town) defected to the new party Alliance for Change and Transparency.
- On 21 July 2015, James Lembeli (CCM, Kahama) defected to Chadema.
National Assembly
References
- ↑ Raphaely, Lawrence (26 May 2015). "NEC sets October 25 as general elections date". Daily News. Dar es Salaam. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
- ↑ Freedom House (November 2011). Freedom in the World 2011: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 666–. ISBN 978-1-4422-0994-7.
- ↑ Peter, Felister (30 June 2015). "JK's final address to MPs lined up for next week". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
- ↑ "Tanzania election: Government ministers suffer shock defeat". BBC News. 27 October 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
- ↑ "Majimbo Mapya" [New Constituencies] (PDF) (in Swahili). National Electoral Commission. 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
- ↑ "CCM releases Bunge aspirants list". Daily News. 14 August 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
- ↑ "Majina Rasmi ya Wagombea Ubunge". Chama Cha Mapinduzi. 13 August 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
Further reading
- Does clientelism help Tanzanian MPs establish long-term electoral support? (PDF) by Machiko Tsubura.