UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA
Parliamentary Chamber: Bunge - National Assembly

ELECTIONS HELD IN 2000

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Chamber:
  Bunge - National Assembly


Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):

  29 October 2000


Purpose of elections:

  Elections were held for the 232 elective seats of Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.


Background and outcome of elections:

  Tanzania held its second multy-party general elections since independence on 29 October 2000. At stake was the presidency of the Union of the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba and mainland Tanganyika as well as the presidency of Zanzibar alone. Voters also elected representatives to the Union and Zanzibar parliaments along with local government leaders.

This was the first time that Tanzanians went to the polls without the overpowering presence of former President Julius Nyerere, who passed away in October 1999. The incumbent President, Benjamin Mkapa, personally endorsed by Mr Nyerere in 1995, stood outside his mentor's shadow this time around.

More than 10 million people were registered to vote. Four candidates were in the race for the presidency while thirteen parties had nominated candidates to contest the parliamentary elections. Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), the ruling party that has dominated the political scene since independence in 1961, was the favourite according to the pre-elections polls, as the opposition was divided.

More than 200 international observers from the OAU and the Commonwealth monitored the elections. On the mainland, there were few fears that the elections would not be free and fair, but in Zanzibar the situation was different as tensions between both sides, the CCM and the opposition Civic United Front (CUF), ran high before election day. The CUF claimed that the CCM had won the 1995 election because it had rigged the vote.

During the two months of the electoral campaign, President Mkapa praised the maintenance of the tight fiscal and monetary policies that had slashed inflation rates from over 30% in 1995 to some 6% in 2000. The CUF's candidate, Prof. Lipumba, insisted on the need for equal distribution of rights to all, with his party claiming that the outgoing administration had denied some people their rights on grounds of religion or race.

After polling day, the opposition in Zanzibar called for the nullification of the election on the islands, saying the vote was deeply flawed. International observers in the islands took a similar position, calling the Zanzibar poll a shame to democracy. Police opened fire on opposition activists on the islands, after opposition leaders demanded the annulment of the elections. Election officials annulled the vote in 16 of the island's 50 constituencies because of irregularities. Re-runs, subsequently boycotted by the opposition, took place in these 16 constituencies one week later.

Results issued by the National Electoral Commission showed that the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi had won about 90 percent of the seats in the National Assembly. The disintegration of the opposition was reflected by the fate of the National Convention for Reconstruction and Reform (NCCR-Mageuzi), which lost all the 14 seats it had won in 1995. The Tanzania Labour Party (TLP), which had won no seats in 1995, picked up four this time around. The CUF, which also did not have any seats, showed an improvement after obtaining two seats. CHADEMA, which had three seats in 1995 increased its count to four, while the United Democratic Party kept three seats as before.

On 9 November 2000, Mr Benjamin Mkapa was sworn in for his second term as President. A few days later, on 14 November 2000, Mr. Pius Msekwa was sworn in as Speaker of the National Assembly for a new term.

STATISTICS
Round no 1 (29 October 2000): Elections results  
Number of registered electors 10 880 484

Round no 1: Distribution of seats  
Political Group Total
Revolutionary Party of Tanzania (CCM) 244
Civic United Front (CUF) 15
Chadema 4
Tanzania Labour Party (TLP) 3
United Democratic Party (UDP) 2
Others 7

Distribution of seats according to sex:  
Men: 214
Women: 61
Percent of women: 22.18%


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