Tanzania elections

The opening of the National Assembly on 17 November follows the inauguration of a new president, John Magufuli. Yet three weeks after Tanzanians went to the polls, Zanzibar is still mired in a political crisis, says Nick Branson.

Some 7,000km and three time zones separate Côte D’Ivoire and Tanzania. As they both go to the polls on 25 October 2015 to elect a new president, Nick Branson suggests seven intriguing commonalities.

Nick Branson identifies constituencies in Tanzania where opposition chances of electoral success have been improved by local developments, political scandals or party defections since 2010.

This Briefing Note considers the variables in the country’s fifth multi-party elections, likely to be the most keenly contested to date.