Tanzania’s 2020 elections: What’s at stake?

Friday 23 October, 16.00-18.00
DIIS ∙ Danish Institute for International Studies
Online via Zoom

On Wednesday, 28 October, Tanzanians will go to the polls to elect a president, new Members of Parliament and new local government councilors. The last elections in 2015 were the most competitive ever held in the country. In semi-autonomous Zanzibar, the elections were cancelled and rerun a year later under an opposition boycott. This year’s elections are even harder to predict, as state-imposed restrictions have limited the activities of opposition parties, independent media and critical voices during the election period. What is the true strength of the opposition, and how will the ruling party, CCM, react to the challenge?

Tanzania had formerly acquired a reputation as East Africa’s most peaceful and stable democracy, but with a new administration taking office at the end of 2015 new signs of fragility emerged from 2016 onwards which put Tanzania at risk of democratic regression. President John Pombe Magufuli has promised prosperity through state-led development in return for restrictions on democracy. The opposition parties reject such a tradeoff and have their own ideas about how to develop the country. The question is how Tanzanian voters see this.

This webinar brings together researchers working on various aspect of political life in Tanzania to discuss key electoral issues.

Speakers
Michaela Collord, Junior Research Fellow in Politics at New College, University of Oxford
Dan Paget, Lecturer in Politics, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Aberdeen
Ahmed Rajab, Journalist and political analyst
Rasmus Hundsbæk Pedersen, Senior Researcher, DIIS
Thabit Jacob, Visiting Researcher, DIIS

Programme
16.00-17.05 Welcome and introduction, Rasmus Pedersen
16.05-16.15 Brief overview, Thabit Jacob
16.15-16.30 Power of the incumbent: Old vs. ‘new’ CCM, Michaela Collord
16.30-16.45 Analyse, Ahmed Rajab
16.45-17.00 How CHADEMA stands in 2020? Dan Paget
17.00-18.00 Q&A - moderated by Rasmus Pedersen