Tanzania: The 2000 General Elections

Extracted from: "Tanzania" IN Compendium of Elections in Southern Africa (2002), edited by Tom Lodge, Denis Kadima and David Pottie, EISA, 357-360.

The 29 October 2000 general elections were held for the presidency, the National Assembly and local government councils. Several changes had been introduced since the 1995 elections. A January 2000 constitutional amendment to the presidential election process resulted in a shift from the winning candidate requiring a majority to a plurality of votes. The National Assembly was to be comprised of 280 members according to the following distribution of seats:

  • 231 constituency seats (181 from the mainland, 50 from Zanzibar);
  • 43 special seats reserved for women (20%);
  • 5 members elected by the Zanzibar House of Representatives, and
  • Attomey-General of the Republic who sits ex officio.

Prior to the 2000 elections the constitution was amended to raise the number of special seats to be not less than 20% but no more than 30%.

A total of 10 064 266 eligible voters registered for the 2000 elections, of whom 9 624 507 were on the mainland. This figure accounted for nearly 98% of the official estimate of the eligible voting population. According to long-term observer reports of the registration process by the European Union, registration centres largely opened on time and officials demonstrated high competence in the discharge of their responsibilities. However, owing to the large number of voters without any form of official identification, officials often had to estimate the age of voters. Shortages of the required registration forms were widely reported. Party agents from a number of political parties (CCM, CUF, UDP, less presence of NCCR, TLP and CHADEMA) were also visible at many of the stations visited. The overall assessment of the voter registration process was good.

For the 2000 elections a total of 862 candidates were registered for the elections, representing 13 parties (the same 13 as listed in Table 2 above). CCM had candidates in every constituency, with CUF second in teU98 of the number of overall candidates (138). The campaign was largely peaceful, with CCM campaigning on the basis of President Mkapa's record of economic reforms and anti-corruption programs. Nevertheless the country's overall economic situation remained very poor. CUF continued its criticisms of government bias in favour of CCM, as well as CUF exclusion from access to media. Moreover, CUF supporters increasingly voiced demands for more autonomy for Zanzibar in the union with the mainland.

The NEC issued several codes of conduct in order to regulate party behaviour, the activities of domestic and international observers, as well as media coverage of the elections. In terms of media coverage, journalists were called on to "provide fair, balanced and impartial reporting by giving space and time to all sides of an issue and to give any aggrieved party the right to reply". The code also instructed journalists to provide voter information and education in an accessible format, to promote democratic values and to investigate issues pertaining to the elections. Domestic and international election observers praised the NEC for its conduct of the elections, in contrast to the many concerns raised over the 1995 poll. Over 8 million valid votes were cast in the presidential election, marking a very high voter turnout of over 80%.

CCM candidate and incumbent president Benjamin Mkapa was re-elected with 71.7% of the vote (a marked increase since the 1995 election). CUP's presidential candidate, Ibrahim Lipumba was a distant second with 16.3% of the vote (see 2000 Presidential election results for more details). Opposition leaders from CUP, TLP and others boycotted Mkapa's inauguration as president, citing irregularities in the Zanzibar poll (see Zanzibar: The October 2000 Elections).

In the legislative elections for the National Assembly, the CCM won an overwhelmingly 167 of the 181 mainland seats with five opposition parties sharing the remaining 14 seats (see 2000 Parliamentary election results). CCM won 65% of the vote but, owing to the first-past-the-post electoral system, won over 90% of the seats. CUP won 12.9% of the vote based on its support in the coastal district and Zanzibar while the TLP won 8% based on several inland districts. Twelve women (all CCM members) were elected to the National Assembly from constituency seats with an additional 43 seats reserved for women, raising the total number of women MPs to 55 (an increase from the 46 in 1995; see Women in Parliament, 1961-2000)).