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Tanzania's main opposition party plans nationwide protests
Tanzania's President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete hands his mobile phone to an aide as he arrives to attends the Africa Union Peace and Security Council Summit on Terrorism at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi, September 2, 2014. PHOTO BY REUTERS/Noor Khamis
By Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala
23/09/2014
DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Tanzania's main opposition party called on Monday for protests this week after the ruling party rejected calls that include changing the way the nation is governed under a constitution now being drawn up, an early salvo before elections next year.
The opposition party, Chadema, and its smaller allies are trying to challenge the dominance of Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), the party which has been in power sinceTanzania's independence in 1961. The assembly drawing up a new constitution has become a battleground.
Divisions between the opposition parties have long hampered their prospects. ButChadema and its allies, CUF and NCCR-Mageuzi, say they have begun talks to name a single candidate next year. Meanwhile, they want a new federal structure which some opposition officials say would end existing arrangements that have helped CCM keep its grip.
CCM dominates the assembly by virtue of its parliamentary majority, and it voted to reject the proposal for a new federal structure and other ideas promoted by their opponents. It wants to keep the existing governing arrangements.
"This will be a week of protests," the Chadema party said in a statement, promising to defy a police ban on demonstrations against the constituent assembly, which has been working since March.
Chadema called for the assembly to be scrapped, after Chadema with two other opposition parties, the Civic United Front (CUF) and NCCR-Mageuzi, walked out in April.
Justice Minister Asha-Rose Migiro, a member of CCM, has dismissed opposition demands that the 630-member assembly meeting in the political capital, Dodoma, be dissolved, saying its quorum was intact even after those parties had quit.
Opposition leaders have also demanded that parliament pass electoral reforms, including appointing an independent commission to oversee the vote for parliament and a new president.
Elections are usually held around October.
President Jakaya Kikwete cannot stand again after serving a maximum two terms and CCM has yet to pick a new candidate.
Whoever CCM chooses, the candidate will benefit from a formidable election machine and, opposition critics say, will enjoy the help of state machinery used to rig the vote. The CCM dismisses accusations of foul play at the ballot box and says it would welcome a vigorous election battle.
Although CCM has won all four votes since 1995, when an era of one-party rule by CCM ended, the opposition has made ground in recent votes. Kikwete's 80 percent share of the presidential vote in 2005 fell to 61 percent in 2010.
"We have the political will to field a joint presidential candidate this time," Ibrahim Lipumba, the national chairman of the CUF party, which dominates politics in the semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar, told Reuters.
Past attempts at opposition alliances have fallen apart amid infighting. Analysts said the latest bid by the three parties could still end in failure.
Tanzania is now run by a government that rules a union of the mainland and the island of Zanzibar, which has some powers. Opponents want a system whereby the mainland and Zanzibar each has a government, in addition to an overarching federal government. They say CCM opposes this because, for example, they argue it cannot defeat CUF in Zanzibar.
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