Tanzania’s main opposition party has chosen a new leader ahead of general elections due in October at a time when it faces increasing political repression.
Freeman Mbowe, who has been Chadema chairman for two decades, congratulated his successor — former deputy Tindu Lissu — on Wednesday.
“I congratulate Hon. Tundu Lissu and his colleagues on being entrusted with the responsibility of leading the party,” Mbowe posted on X.
The change comes amid a crackdown on the opposition in the country as well as internal divisions in the Chadema party that analysts say could weaken its election chances. The party’s general assembly, which elects a chairperson every five years, began on Tuesday and continued late into the night.
Lissu, Chadema’s presidential candidate for the last general election in 2020, accused Mbowe of staying in power too long and promised reform within the party.
A lawyer by profession, Lissu served as an MP from 2010 to 2017, when he survived an assassination attempt.
On Sunday, President Samia Suluhu Hassan was unanimously nominated as the presidential candidate of her ruling CCM party.
She took office in 2021 after the sudden death of her authoritarian predecessor John Magufuli and was initially feted for easing restrictions on the opposition and media in the country of around 67 million people.
But rights groups and Western governments have criticised what they see as renewed repression, with the arrests of Chadema politicians as well as abductions and murders of opposition figures.
Lissu warned last month that the party would “block the elections through confrontation,” unless the electoral system was reformed.
Its demands have long been ignored by the ruling party.
Abel Kinyondo, a lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam, warned that Chadema’s “recent internal wrangles risk disappointing voters”.
“I think they need to re-strategise after the elections,” he added.
Chadema has not yet selected its candidate for this year’s presidential vote.
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