Fresh battle as Lissu lays out plan to block elections in Tanzania without law reforms

He said Chadema would be urging “civil disobedience” in support of its new motto: No Reforms, No Election, which the party coined right after last November’s controversial local government elections, which were beset by claims of fraud.

According to Lissu, the crusade will take the form of public rallies targeting democracy reform stakeholders from religious leaders, civil society organisations, other opposition parties, ordinary citizens, and the international community.

“We are not saying we will boycott the election; what we are saying is that we will be going all out to prevent it from taking place at all unless we see the kind of system reforms necessary to ensure a free and fair election,” he said.

Lissu has been promoting the ‘no reforms, no election’ stance in various engagements with local radio and television stations since assuming the Chadema leadership after ousting long-time chair Freeman Mbowe in a closely-contested party election on January 22.

But Wednesday was the first time he openly articulated it in a public address targeting the entire nation.

Opposition parties have been complaining about Tanzania’s electoral system for a long time, saying it is tilted in favour of CCM and does not give other parties a fighting chance.

Read: Lissu bid for Mbowe’s job is an acid test for Chadema

This disgruntlement has intensified after the events of the civic elections in 2019 and 2024, and the last general election in 2020, where official results gave CCM massive, if unrealistic, victories.

The October poll will be for the presidency and seats in the National Assembly, where CCM enjoys a huge majority.

“What can we expect if we allow the next election to go ahead with this current system still in place after experiencing how it has always been used to justify illegitimate rather than legitimate elections (uchafuzi badala ya uchaguzi)?” Lissu queried. “What are the chances of the same supervising officials treating the opposition fairly this time round?”

On the party’s implementation plan, Lissu said Chadema planned to conduct a “national and international mobilisation campaign” on the importance of effecting these reforms before the election and not after.

“We will engage citizens individually and the world at large to unite as many social groups as possible in support of our cause. We will also use every means available to convey the same message to members of the diplomatic corps presently stationed in the country, we will lobby their governments directly and speak to representatives of international organizations so they too all support us,” he said.

Chadema’s latest position statement comes at a time of intensified public debate regarding how amendments to Tanzania’s election laws passed by parliament in February 2024 impacted the municipal polls in November, where CCM got away with a 99 percent victory, leaving opposition parties scrambling for the crumbs.

As part of the law changes, the National Electoral Commission (NEC) was renamed Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

But opposition parties dismissed this as no more than a cosmetic amendment to camouflage the fact that almost everything else remained unchanged with regard to the practical aspects of conducting both the municipal and general elections.

Since it took office three weeks ago, the new Chadema leadership has been in a war of words with CCM through the ruling party’s vice chair Stephen Wasira over the new law as a suitable guide for this year’s election.

On January 25 Wasira, who was appointed to be CCM chairperson President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s deputy at around the same time Lissu took over the Chadema reins, dismissed the idea of another law review before October, insisting that there is not enough time for parliament to study and approve further amendments in the few remaining months.

He also asserted that the polls would be held in October as scheduled, come what may.

“No one can stop it at this moment in time, and those who are peddling this no reforms, no election message are just wasting their time,” Wasira said.

“First of all, that sounds like an order, and the largest political party in Africa (CCM) can’t take orders from such a small party. We have already done reforms. Parliament will be dissolved in June (to pave the way for the elections), so who will do further reforms?”

Read: Lissu vs Mbowe, again? Not so good for our hope for change

Lissu had proposed during a local radio talk show on January 24 that the election be postponed pending further amendments to the elections law, saying it was not a “command from God” that the general election must be held in October or November.

“I would be more than happy if the election date is moved forward to provide enough time for this exercise to be conducted so that voters can ultimately be able to elect the legislators they want and not have MPs forced upon them. That is currently not possible because the whole elections system is messed up,” he said.

Responding to a question about whether moving the election forward would not amount to a constitutional violation, he reiterated Chadema’s longstanding position that the current Tanzania constitution is outdated and needs to be replaced by a new one.

“It is this same constitution that has been facilitating CCM’s manipulation of election votes again and again.”