Tanzanians elect their president and their deputies on Wednesday 28 October after a lively electoral campaign, the outgoing head of state John Magufuli, nicknamed the “bulldozer”, facing the opponent Tundu Lissu who knew how to reinvigorate the opposition, largely stifled during the quinquennium which is coming to an end.
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On the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar, the situation became markedly tense on the eve of the election, the opposition accusing the security forces of having shot ten people dead, which the police deny.
“How can you have an election when there is tear gas and live ammunition everywhere?
It is by no means a fair election, it is just a joke, ”
protested to the press Seif Sharif Hamad, the opposition candidate in Zanzibar, detained for several by the police on Tuesday.
More than 29 million voters are called to ballot from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. in mainland Tanzania and 556,000 in the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar, which together constitute the United Republic of Tanzania (approximately 58 million inhabitants).
An important security device was deployed in Zanzibar, whose voters vote not only in the national ballot (presidential, legislative), but also to appoint the president and parliamentarians of the archipelago.
On Twitter, US Ambassador Donald Wright said he was
"alarmed by information from Zanzibar and elsewhere on violence, deaths and detentions"
and called on the security forces to
"show restraint"
.
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Nationally, among the fifteen presidential candidates, a duel emerges between John Magufuli, 60, candidate for re-election under the green and yellow colors of the CCM party ("The Revolution Party"), in power since 1961, and Tundu Lissu, 52, on behalf of the Chadema (Party for Democracy and Progress).
During his first term, John Magufuli, according to his detractors, demonstrated authoritarianism and adopted an abrupt style of governance, faithful to the nickname acquired when he was Minister of Public Works (2010-2015): the "bulldozer" or " Tingatinga ”in Kiswahili.
Soon after his election, his tolerance for any form of criticism seemed to crumble.
Political gatherings outside the election period have been banned, draconian media laws passed, journalists, activists and opposition members arrested.
Several members of the opposition were killed.
The Lutheran Church and the Catholic Church denounced in 2018 the climate of
"fear"
which, according to them, has settled in the population and undermines
"the unity of the country"
yet often considered a haven of peace in Africa from the east.
John Magufuli highlights his fight against corruption, the extension of access to free education and a policy of large infrastructure projects in the hydroelectric and rail sectors.
He also resuscitated the national airline.
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Facing John Magufuli stands Tundu Lissu, a lawyer by training, who returned to the country at the end of July after three years in exile.
In September 2017, after having been arrested no less than six times during the year for various reasons, Tundu Lissu was the victim of an assassination attempt - which he claims politically motivated - outside his home in Dodoma, the administrative capital. .
He was hit with sixteen bullets.
Twenty surgeries later, the 50-year-old limped, but still managed to campaign and attract crowds.
So much so that in October, the leader of the popular opposition party ACT-Wazalendo, Zitto Kabwe, gave him his support, believing that Tundu Lissu had
"the best chance of beating Mr. Magufuli"
.
In return, Chadema lined up for the presidency of the Zanzibar Archipelago behind Seif Sharif Hamad, a veteran of the local opposition, candidate under the banner of ACT-Wazalendo.
The electoral campaign was held without any consideration for the coronavirus, John Magufuli having declared his country
"free from the Covid"
in July, thanks to the prayers.
For lack of opinion polls, it is difficult to assess the popularity of the outgoing president and the feeling of his policy among the population.
Under Magufuli, the economy continued to grow, before Covid-19, at the impressive rate of 6% per year, but job creation was
"few"
and aggressive tax collection affected the private sector and cooled investors, underlines Thabit Jacob, a Tanzanian political analyst based in Denmark.
The IMF predicts that Tanzania will escape recession this year, despite the pandemic, with growth of 1.9%.
