TANZANIA: Tanzanian opposition presidential candidate Willibrord Slaa says vote counting riddled with irregularities, demands recount

Record ID: 293452

  • Title: TANZANIA: Tanzanian opposition presidential candidate Willibrord Slaa says vote counting riddled with irregularities, demands recount
  • Date: 4th November 2010
  • Summary: DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA (NOVEMBER 3, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CHADEMA PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE DR. WILLIBRORD SLAA ADDRESSING MEDIA MEMBERS OF MEDIA DR. WILLIBRORD SLAA SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHADEMA CANDIDATE, DR. WILLIBRORD SLAA SAYING: "Complaints are based on various irregularities that we have observed in the electoral, the election process, but particula
  • Embargoed: 19th November 2010 12:00
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  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVACNQS6GIBUCY5YUFK0DWM04JSE
  • Story Text: Tanzanian opposition presidential candidate Willibrord Slaa says vote counting riddled with irregularities, demands recount.
    A Tanzanian opposition leader asked the electoral body on Wednesday (November 3) to stop announcing results from the presidential vote and called for a recount, saying there were incidents of fraud.
    Early confirmed figures gave incumbent President Jakaya Kikwete of the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), who is seeking a second and final term, the advantage, but some political analysts expected the margin of victory to be tight.
    Willibrord Slaa, the presidential candidate for the Chadema party, campaigned on an anti-corruption platform and has been making the most gains among the opposition candidates in the presidential race.
    "Complaints are based on various irregularities that we have observed in the electoral, the election process, but particularly at the point of counting and addition as well as announcing of the results," Slaa told a news conference.
    He accused the Tanzanian intelligence and security services of rigging the vote in favour of CCM and called for the resignation of the head of intelligence services.
    Slaa said the vote counting process was riddled with irregularities.
    "Our demand in this particular case is the electoral commission to suspend the announcement of the election results with immediate effect and the second one is to suspend the results that has been already announced and to restart the election process for the presidential election."
    Foreign observers, including the European Union, on Tuesday expressed concern about the delays in the announcement of the election results, and said it had reservations about the transparency of the aggregation process.
    Results from the 239 constituencies in east Africa's second largest economy have been trickling in more slowly than expected, leading to a third day of clashes between opposition supporters and riot police in some parts of the country.
    The electoral commission chairman Judge Lewis Makame said there could be irregularities.
    "There could be irregularities in terms of arithmetic, but not trying to change the results," said Judge Makame.
    Tanzania has enjoyed relative stability in an often unsettled region and has managed to hold three successive multi-party presidential elections since 1995, after more than three decades of one-party rule.
    The election is seen as a test for the ruling party's dominance in Tanzania, which has been struggling with poverty and underdevelopment. Government critics say poverty remains widespread among the majority of the population of 40 million.
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