Tanzania not to nullify last year's civic polls results: PM

Dar es Salaam. Tanzanian authorities said on Thursday they were not intending to nullify results of last year's civic polls as demanded by opposition parties.

Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa told the National Assembly in the capital Dodoma that any candidate from any political party that felt that the polls were not free and fair should seek court redress. Majaliwa stated the government's position on the civic polls held on November 24, 2019, when he responded to Paschal Haonga, a Member of Parliament for Mbozi constituency on the ticket of opposition party Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA).  The opposition lawmaker had asked the government to declare the elections null and void and hold fresh polls saying the polls held across the country faced some irregularities.

The premier told the august House that all political parties that participated in the civic polls were allowed to file petitions in courts of law if they felt that the polls were not free and fair.

In the elections, Tanzania's ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) swept to a landslide victory by 99 percent. Selemani Jafo, the Minister of State in the President's Office responsible for Regional Administration and Local Government, said CCM won in 12,260 villages out of 12,262 villages. Opposition parties CHADEMA and the Civic United Front (CUF) scooped votes in one village each, said Jafo. On the election of hamlets chairpersons, CCM won in 63,970 hamlets out of 63,992 hamlets which was equivalent to 99.4 percent while opposition ACT-Wazalendo won only in one hamlet.