{UAH} Pojim/WBK: Lowassa’s defeat may spell doom for opposition coalition - News
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Lowassa's defeat may spell doom for opposition coalition
Chadema presidential candidate Edward Lowassa casts his ballot at a polling station on October 25, 2015 in Zanzibar. The main opposition party's fortunes in the parliamentary elections were greatly boosted by the defection of the former prime minister. PHOTO | FILE | AFP
The Chama cha Mapinduzi's election victory has raised questions about the future of the main opposition party whose fortunes in the parliamentary elections were greatly boosted by the defection of former prime minister Edward Lowassa.
Umoja wa Katiba ya Wananchi (Ukawa) was formed by individuals and institutions, among them civil society organisations and political parties, which were pushing for enactment of a new constitution.
Formed as a social movement to rally Tanzanians to push for a review of the constitution, Ukawa metamorphosed into an opposition entity that gave CCM a run for its money in the just concluded elections.
Affiliates included four political parties — Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema), Civic United Front (CUF), National League for Democracy (NLD) and National Convention for Construction and Reforms (NCCR-Mageuzi) — that agreed to field joint candidates to contest civic election and parliamentary seats and presidency.
However, disagreements emerged in some constituencies, opening doors for some parties in the movement to field candidates.
In Segerea constituency, for example, Chadema and CUF fielded separate candidates and lost to CCM. Some parties could have lost their identities to the movement's campaigns led by Mr Lowassa, who was fronted by Chadema.
CUF is likely to become the main opposition party depending on the number of seats it wins in Zanzibar after the nullified election is repeated in January next year.
While CCM has won 160 (74 per cent) constituencies and the opposition block bagged 46 (21 per cent) constituencies, the number is likely to increase when elections are held in seven constituencies on the mainland that couldn't vote during the election.
In the 2010 election, Chadema won 23 seats, CUF 24 seats and CCM 186 seats.
However, questions are being raised about whether the opposition coalition will finally seek registration to become a formal political entity.
In 1995, some political parties including NCCR-Mageuzi and Chadema formed Umoja wa Demokrasia Tanzania (Udeta) to oust CCM from power. The new outfit received a major boost when then deputy prime minister and minister for labour Augustine Mrema joined it from CCM.
NCCR-Mageuzi decided to go it alone for the presidency hoping to benefit from Mr Mrema's popularity but lost to CCM's Benjamin Mkapa.
Under the stewardship of Dr Willbroad Slaa, who ditched Chadema to protest to the coming of Mr Lowassa, the party had won accolades as an anti-corruption force after it released the infamous List of Shame, which contained names of senior politicians in the government, including Mr Lowassa, who were linked to grand corruption.
The defection of Dr Slaa is said to have affected voting patterns in opposition strongholds. Sources in the party said internal polls showed that at least 20 per cent of supporters said they will not vote.
Analysts contend that Chadema's decision to nominate Mr Lowassa as its presidential candidate after his defection from CCM could have made it difficult for the opposition to ride on the anti-corruption wave.
Chadema's decision to nominate Mr Lowassa had prompted some key members and MPs, among them Tundu Lissu and John Mnyika, to consider leaving the party, but sources indicated that party elders and founder Edwin Mtei pleaded with them to stay.
The ACT–Wazalendo party, which was targeting to garner at least 10 per cent of the votes so that it could qualify for the subsidy and special seats MPs, only got 0.63 per cent of the total vote cast and its biggest challenge could be raising resources to build a national political party.
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