Tanzania opposition rejects president’s win in vote marred by protests

Tanzania's main opposition party has rejected President Samia Suluhu Hassan's landslide victory in elections that were marred by deadly protests.

Chadema, which was barred from taking part in the poll, has described the results as "completely fabricated", alleging the process was not a "genuine election" .

Hassan won the country’s disputed election with more than 97 per cent of the vote, according to official results announced early Saturday.

Demonstrators angry at the exclusion of the two main challengers to the president, and what rights groups said were the arrest and abductions of opponents, clashed with security forces for days.

Accepting the winner’s certificate in Dodoma, Hassan criticised the protesters, describing them as “unacceptable, uncivilised and unpatriotic”.

She described her win as a collective victory for Tanzanians.

"This election was a test, not only of the popularity of manifestos and the development agenda of the political parties, but also to the maturity of the nation's democracy,” she said.

Witnesses say that during the protests, police fired tear gas and shot at demonstrators in cities across the country.

There are widely varying reports of the number of deaths, with the opposition saying hundreds were killed and the United Nations saying it has credible reports that at least 10 people died.

Rights groups, including Amnesty International, warned of a pattern of enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and extrajudicial killings in Tanzania ahead of the polls.

A nationwide curfew has been imposed since Wednesday’s vote by the authorities and internet access has been curbed.

The government has dismissed the opposition’s tally of the deaths as "hugely exaggerated" and has rejected criticism of its human rights record.

In her speech on Saturday, Hassan thanked the security forces for **“**ensuring that all the chaos witnessed did not alter or stop the election process”.

“Patriots build their countries and not destroy what their fellow countrymen's blood and sweat built. The government strongly condemns these recent events," she said.

Chadema has described the demonstrations as proof that Tanzanians reject the outcome of the flawed poll.

Hassan took power in 2021. As vice-president, she was automatically elevated when her predecessor, John Magufuli, died months after the start of his second term.

The result is likely to amplify the concerns of critics, opposition groups, and others who said the election in Tanzania was not a contest but a coronation.

Tundu Lissu, leader of Chadema, has been jailed for months, charged with treason after he called for electoral reforms that he said were a prerequisite for free and fair elections.

Another opposition figure, Luhaga Mpina of the ACT-Wazalendo group, was barred from running.

At stake for the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party was its decades-long grip on power amid the rise of charismatic opposition figures who hoped to lead the country toward political change.

A version of the governing CCM party, which maintains ties with the Communist Party of China, has ruled Tanzania since its independence from Britain in 1961, a streak that Hassan extends with her victory.

Orderly transitions within the party have sustained Tanzania’s reputation as an oasis of political stability and relative peace, a major reason for its considerable support, especially among rural voters.