Political System
The constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania
provides for a Multi Party political system. Currently there are six
active parties which participated and won parliamentary seats in the
2000 Presidential and Parliamentary elections. These include:
• Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) the ruling Party;
• Civic United Front (CUF)
• Chama cha Democrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA)
• Tanzania Labour Party (TLP)
• United Democratic Party (UDP)
• National Convention for Construction and Reforms (NCCR).
For purposes of conducting Multi-Party elections, there is an independent
a National Electoral Commission (NEC) whose main functions are:
• Supervision and coordination of registration of voters;
• Conducting the election of the President of the United Republic
of Tanzania, Union Parliamentarians, and councilors in Tanzania Mainland;
• Review and demarcation of electoral districts in the United
Republic of Tanzania for purposes of Parliamentary and Councilors elections.
Since 1992, when the Multi-Party Political System was introduced in
Tanzania, there has been two successful Presidential and Parliamentary
elections. The first such election was conducted in 1995 and the second
one in 2000. In both cases, CCM won the election by a landslide. The
first multi-party elections in Tanzania were however conducted at the
grassroots level in 1993 to elect government leaders at the hamlet level
and in 1994 to elect councilors for 2,400 administrative wards. Again,
in both cases, CCM won comfortably.
As a strategy for enhancing democracy, contestants who lost the election
are legally empowered to challenge the election results in a court of
law if they are not satisfied.
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