Tanzanian Opposition Press for Single Presidential Candidate

(Bloomberg) --

Tanzania's biggest opposition parties will proceed with plans to name a single presidential candidate for elections later this month, even as the country's electoral body temporarily barred their most likely flag bearer from campaigning.

The main opposition Chadema and ACT-Wazalendo parties are in talks to unite behind Tundu Lissu to challenge incumbent President John Magufuli on Oct. 28. They also plan to present a single candidate in Tanzania's semi-autonomous Indian Ocean archipelago of Zanzibar. A decision is scheduled to be announced on Saturday.

Lissu, the Chadema party's candidate, was suspended from campaigning for a week after allegedly violating election ethics, the National Electoral Commission said in an emailed statement Friday. He made remarks suggesting that Magufuli, who is seeking re-election, planned to rig the vote.

Lissu rejected the allegations and said he would continue to mobilize support. “I was not given the right of reply as required by procedure, nor has this decision been officially communicated to me,” he said by phone. “The campaign will continue on Sunday as scheduled,” he later said on his Twitter account.

ACT-Wazalendo Secretary-General Ado Shaibu said the two parties would “defy” any attempt to thwart their plans for a unified campaign. We “are within the ambit of the law because we are forming a loose cooperation and not a formal coalition as specified by law,” Shaibu said.

Earlier, the authorities said the move could breach a requirement that interested groups sign a coalition agreement at least three months before elections are held, and have it approved. The “law prohibits political parties from forming a coalition at this stage of the election process,” Deputy Registrar of Political Parties Sisty Nyahoza told journalists on Thursday.

Lissu, a human-rights lawyer who survived an assassination attempt in September 2017 and returned to Tanzania in July from self-imposed exile in Europe, is seen as Magufuli's main challenger. He has pledged to fight for fair and credible elections.

Human rights groups including New York-based Human Rights Watch have accused Magufuli's administration of suppressing basic freedoms, allegations he denies. Magufuli has been hailed in some quarters for making government more efficient and fighting corruption, but his detractors point to policies they say have discouraged private investment.

The U.S. said it will “not hesitate to consider consequences for those found to be responsible for election-related violence or undermining the democratic process,” its embassy in Tanzania said in a statement on Thursday. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to back a resolution that would enable the Trump administration to impose sanctions if democracy was seen to be threatened in the country, DaMina Advisors said in a separate note.

Sanctions could impact investing in Tanzania, Africa's fourth-largest gold producer, where companies including Barrick Gold Corp. and AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. operate.

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