Tanzania: 5 Cabinet Ministers Lose Seats in Parliament

Tanzanians are voting in elections that will determine whether the ruling party will give way to a new coalition or maintain its 54-year grip on power.

The ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) has accused the opposition Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema) of posting false results showing that it was winning the election, contrary to results from thirteen polling stations released by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) showing otherwise.

On the last day of campaigning, Lowassa, who was a Prime Minister from 2005 to 2008, urged the electorate to come out in large numbers and vote in his favour, saying areas of his focus will include education, infrastructure and better agricultural policies.

“I went to the polling station very early in the morning ready to cast my vote”, Emanuel Motta, a voter from Arusha in northern Tanzania, told Anadolu Agency.

Final rallies were held on Saturday ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentary elections. In turn, he joined Chadema, which united with three other opposition parties under the collective Ukawa and designated Lowassa as its presidential candidate.

Ivory Coast voted in a presidential election Sunday expected to return incumbent Alassane Ouattara to power amid hopes of cementing peace after years of violence and upheaval.

A few 22.75 million people are registered to vote in the East African nation of more than 47 million.

Analysts have warned that the unusually tight race could lead to tensions, with the opposition providing the first credible challenge to the CCM since the introduction of multiparty democratic elections in 1995.

Chadema’s national chairperson, Freeman Mbowe, said the police raided a tallying centre and showed the CCM government was “using dictatorial tactics to manipulate elections and intimidate our people”.

The 2015 presidential election for mainland Tanzania is scheduled to take place October. 25.

“The teargas was part of a campaign of fear… and intimidation to stop people celebrating”, CUF official Ismail Jussa said.

The semi-autonomous island archipelago of Zanzibar is also voting for a president and local leaders.

Voters were also due to choose local officials and lawmakers in the country’s parliament on Sunday. There have been accusations of fraud in past polls but presidents have stepped down at the end of their tenure and ethnic tensions over elections are virtually unheard of in the country of more than 100 ethnic groups.

“I think it’s going to be the most competitive race we’ve seen”, Pham said during a telephone interview. “The opposition [Chadema] has invested a lot in terms of preparing candidates and they are gaining a number of seats”, he said adding that it was still too early to talk of the presidential results.