Tanzania’s electoral commission said it had disqualified opposition presidential candidate Luhaga Mpina for the second time on Monday, reversing a decision made two days earlier approving his nomination.
The disqualification of Mpina, who leads the country’s second largest opposition party, leaves President Samia Suluhu Hassan a clear run at next month’s election, with only candidates from minor parties allowed to compete.
U-Turn In Matter Of Days
Mpina, who is the top candidate for the Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT-Wazalendo) party, had successfully challenged the earlier decision to disqualify him by the Office of Registrar of Political Parties, citing complaints that his party had failed to comply with nomination procedures.
The vote will also be held without leading opposition party CHADEMA, which was disqualified in April after failing to sign the electoral code of conduct as part of its call for electoral reforms.
Free Pass
The CHADEMA presidential candidate, Tundu Lissu, who was shot 16 times in a 2017 attack and came second in the last presidential poll, was charged with treason earlier this year over what prosecutors said was a speech calling upon the public to rebel and disrupt elections due in October.
Rights groups like Amnesty International say Lissu’s detention and the unexplained abductions of government critics in recent months point to a government crackdown ahead of the election, while highlighting the rights record of Hassan, who says the government is committed to respecting human rights.
Over the weekend the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) accepted the nomination papers of Mpina, a former ruling party lawmaker, following a high court ruling that overturned an earlier decision by INEC to disqualify him.
“It is our hope the commission will drop all objections against our candidate so that he can proceed with the election campaigns in a bid to lead Tanzanians,” said Shangwe Ayo, ACT-Wazalendo’s deputy spokesperson, in a statement.
(With inputs from Reuters)
