2015 Tanzanian parliamentary election

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]

2015 Tanzanian parliamentary election

25 October 2015
All 256 parliamentary constituency and 110 women's seats to the National Assembly
Party CCM CHADEMA CUF Last election 259, 60.2% 48, 23.86% 35, 10.61 Seats won 252 70 42 Seat change 7 22 7 Popular vote 8,021,427 1,839,569 1,257,765 Percentage 55.04% 31.75% 8.63% Swing 5.16% 7.89% 1.98%
Composition of parliament
Prime Minister before election Mizengo Pinda CCM Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa CCM

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 a parallel voting method for its legislative elections: most seats are elected by first-past-the-post voting, but the special seats reserved for women are elected by party-list proportional representation.[3] On 9 July 2015, outgoing President Jakaya Kikwete addressed Parliament for the last time before it being dissolved.[4]

CCM maintained its majority in parliament, but key figures in the previous cabinet suffered defeats in their constituencies.[5]

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.[6] 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.[7] On 13 August 2015, CCM announced its candidates following its primaries.[8]

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

Party	Votes	%	Seats
			FPTP	PR	Total	+/–
Chama Cha Mapinduzi	8,021,427	55.04	188	64	252
Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo	4,627,923	31.75	34	36	70
Civic United Front	1,257,765	8.63	32	10	42
Alliance for Change and Transparency	323,112	2.22	1	0	1
NCCR–Mageuzi	218,209	1.50	1	0	1
Chama cha Ukombozi wa Umma	23,058	0.16	0	0	0	0
Democratic Party	14,471	0.10	0	0	0	0
United Democratic Party	13,757	0.09	0	0	0	–1
Tanzania Labour Party	13,098	0.09	0	0	0	–1
ADA–TADEA	12,979	0.09	0	0	0	0
Alliance for Democratic Change	12,420	0.09	0	0	0	0
Chama cha Haki na Ustawi	8,217	0.06	0	0	0	0
Alliance for Tanzania Farmers Party	7,498	0.05	0	0	0	0
United People's Democratic Party	3,772	0.03	0	0	0	0
Jahazi Asilia	3,344	0.02	0	0	0	0
Progressive Party of Tanzania – Maendeleo	3,037	0.02	0	0	0	0
Chama Cha Kijamii	2,310	0.02	0	0	0	0
National League for Democracy	2,082	0.01	0	0	0	0
Union for Multiparty Democracy	1,975	0.01	0	0	0	0
Sauti ya Umma	1,810	0.01	0	0	0	0
National Reconstruction Alliance	1,467	0.01	0	0	0	0
Demokrasia Makini	1,226	0.01	0	0	0	0
Appointed	–	–	–	–	10	–
Invalid/blank votes		–	–	–	–	–
Total	14,574,957	100	256	110	366	+17
Registered voters/turnout			–	–	–	–
Source: NEC, IPU

References

1. Raphaely, Lawrence (26 May 2015). "NEC sets October 25 as general elections date". Daily News. Dar es Salaam. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
2. 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.
3. "Tanzania elections 2015". Tanzania Elections 2015: Ten Things You Need to Know. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
4. Peter, Felister (30 June 2015). "JK's final address to MPs lined up for next week". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
5. "Tanzania election: Government ministers suffer shock defeat". BBC News. 27 October 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
6. "Majimbo Mapya" [New Constituencies] (PDF) (in Swahili). National Electoral Commission. 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
7. "CCM releases Bunge aspirants list". Daily News. 14 August 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
8. "Majina Rasmi ya Wagombea Ubunge". Chama Cha Mapinduzi. 13 August 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2015.

Further reading

• Does clientelism help Tanzanian MPs establish long-term electoral support? (PDF) by Machiko Tsubura.

External links

• Official website