English

Atanasi Katundu Mangasini

doi:10.5897/ajpsir2018.1089

Abstract

This paper examines the performance of opposition parties and the prospects of multiparty politics in Tanzania. At independence in 1961 and during Colonial Rule, Tanganyika now Tanzania Mainland was enjoying a multiparty democracy but moved to one party state during 1970s. The Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) has won all elections since re-introduction of multiparty politics in 1992. The debate now is on the performance of Tanzania's opposition parties. Some scholars argue that many Tanzanians especially smallholders and rural inhabitants have strong loyalty to the ruling party CCM despite the economic difficulties they face. They further argue that, this strong loyalty to CCM is largely a result of lack of a strong alternative among the political parties, and nostalgia for the party which brought them independence and which has maintained relative peace. They also maintain that, it will simply take time for such nostalgia to fade and for a pro-rural challenge to the CCM to emerge; otherwise, age appears to have no significant effect on CCM support both Tanzanians old and young are loyal to the CCM. However, others claim that even if CCM is enjoying the power of the incumbency past elections results show that the margin of votes across constituencies for the CCM is in steady decline, thus challenging its dominance’. This paper is set to contribute to this live debate but taking the readers to a slightly different view point. In this paper, it is argued that, in spite of the claims made on the nature and quality of electoral institutions, and electoral system, opposition parties in the country have remained both numerically institutionally weak and fragmented. It is further argued that failure of the Tanzanian opposition parties is largely a product of internal weaknesses. Key words: Tanzanian opposition, elections, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), political parties, politics.

Highlights

The United Republic of Tanzania was formed on 26th April, 1964 after the Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar
Can we argue here that ruling parties in these countries did not use the power of incumbency or they parties differ in the degree they apply the power? The author‟s position is that, Tanzania exhibits different characteristics
The 1958/1959 Legislative Council Election (Figure 2) saw Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) which later in 1977 merged with the Afro-Shiraz Party to form „Chama Cha Mapinduzi‟ (Revolutionary Party which is the current ruling Party in Tanzania) wining with 28 seats out of 30 available seats compared to other political parties who had only 2 seats

Summary

Introduction

The United Republic of Tanzania was formed on 26th April, 1964 after the Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. At independence in 1961 and during Colonial Rule, Tanganyika Tanzania Mainland was enjoying a multiparty democracy. According to the Encyclopedia of the Nations during this time, the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), which was established in 1954, was the overwhelmingly dominant political party in the country. Other political parties of this era included the United Tanganyika Party (UTP), the African National Congress (ANC), and the All Muslim National Unity of Tanganyika Party (AMNUT). While this was the case in Tanganyika, in Zanzibar, there were three important political parties prior to independence. On February 5, 1977, ASP the ruling party of Zanzibar and TANU merged into the

Methods

Results

Conclusion