Tanzania: 2005 Elections
Extracted from: Grant Masterson 2009 "Chapter 13: Tanzania and Zanzibar" IN Denis Kadima and Susan Booysen (eds) Compendium of Elections in Southern Africa 1989-2009: 20 Years of Multiparty Democracy, EISA, Johannesburg, 555-558.
The 2005 elections saw President Mkapa step down after serving his maximum two-term limit, and his successor, Jakaya Kikwete (a former finance and foreign affairs minister in previous regimes) nominated for the CCM Union presidential ticket, the registration of an additional 11 political parties to contest the elections, and the establishment of the delayed permanent national voters' roll (PNVR). The 2005 Union elections were postponed after the death of the Chadema [Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo - Party for Democracy and Progress] vice-presidential candidate, Jumbe Rajab Jumbe, requiring the elections be rescheduled from 30 October 2005 to 14 December 2005.
The registration process and the establishment of a PNVR used in the 2005 elections once again highlighted the complexities associated with parallel administrative structures and differences in the legal frameworks governing elections between the NEC [Natioanl Electoral Commission] and the ZEC [Zanzibar Electoral Commission]. The clearest example of this was the registration by the NEC of some Zanzibari citizens who met the criteria for eligibility in the Union elections but did not meet the criteria for eligibility to vote in the elections managed by the ZEC. Many of these applicants satisfied the criteria of Union citizens, but were not able to prove to the ZEC that they had lived in their constituency in Zanzibar islands for a minimum of 36 months prior to the registration. The fact that Zanzibar did not have a similar system of ID cards for Zanzibari citizens further complicated the registration of voters for the NEC, in particular in Zanzibar itself. At the completion of the registration process, the NEC reported that more than 90% of the eligible voters in Tanzania had registered to vote: 15 915 814 voters registered for the Union elections, and 507 225 voters registered by the ZEC (EISA 2005, 14).
The 2005 elections also saw an increase in the number of applications by political parties for registration in order to contest the elections. 18 political parties were given full registration certificates for the 2005 elections, with another six parties were provisionally registered (EISA 2005, 16). Two political parties were struck off the list of provisionally registered parties (the Tanzania People's Congress and the Soft Party) because they did not satisfy the registrar that they had 200 nominations from each of Tanzania's ten provinces (including two provinces in Zanzibar. EISA 2005, 15). Campaigning on the mainland followed the established tradition of large rallies organised by the parties for the visit of their presidential candidate to a particular region/constituency. The Chadema party created some hype around its campaign by hiring a helicopter to ferry its presidential candidate, Freeman Mbowe, and the media reported large crowds attending Chadema rallies in many parts of the country, although Chadema's opponents claimed these were their party supporters who were simply curious to see the helicopter for themselves.
Chadema was also censured by the NEC for the use of the Tanzanian flag as a background to some versions of its posters, as the regulations governing these prohibit any political party from displaying national symbols, colours or emblems on its campaign materials. The CCM [Chama cha Mapinduzi - Party of Revolution] and the CUF [Civic United Front - Chama cha Wananchi)] both focused a lot of their attention during the campaign period on securing voters in Zanzibar, given the contested nature and small margins between the two parties in the 2000 Zanzibar results, although pre-election observers noted that the CCM presence throughout Tanzania's constituencies during the campaigning period was significant. There were few incidents reported by or to the NEC during campaigning, and the preparations ahead of the 2005 polls were orderly and proceeding well, until the untimely death of the Chadema vice-presidential candidate three days before the election date of 30 October 2005 forced the NEC to postpone the elections in order to allow Chadema to nominate a new vice-presidential candidate (NEC 2005, 7). The NEC extended the campaign period to accommodate the new election schedule, and had to source additional funds to finance the re-printing of the Union presidential ballot paper. The ZEC-administered elections held in Zanzibar were not affected by Jumbe's death, and went ahead on 30 October 2005 as scheduled.
As expected, the CCM won a sound majority of the National Assembly seats, and Kikwete was elected as the new president of the Union by a massive 80.28 per cent of the popular vote (see Presidential results and National Assembly results for details). Based on the calculations of the specially reserved women's seats, the CCM secured 264 out of the 307 National Assembly seats, increasing its majority in the Union parliament. The CUF improved slightly on its popular vote in National Assembly elections from 12 per cent in 2000 to 14.24 per cent in 2005, but the biggest gains were made by Chadema, which won five seats, plus an additional six special seats, to gain 11 seats in the legislature compared to the five seats it had previously occupied prior to the elections.
Zanzibar: 2005 Election
References
EISA 2006 Electoral Observer Mission Report to the 2005 Zanzibar Elections [PDF document].
NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION (NEC) 2005 The Report of the National Electoral Commission on the 2005 Presidential, Parliamentary and Councillors Elections.