The European Union on Sunday urged the Tanzanian authorities to exercise “maximum restraint in order to preserve human lives,” following violence during the re-election of President Samia Suluhu Hassan.<\/p>\n
“The EU is deeply concerned by the violence, the internet shutdown, and reports of irregularities in the electoral process in certain areas,” said the EU\u2019s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, in a statement.<\/p>\n
“Reliable reports indicating a significant number of deaths and serious injuries are extremely troubling. The EU urges the authorities to exercise maximum restraint in order to preserve human lives,” she said.<\/p>\n
Tanzania’s main opposition party Chadema<\/a> on Sunday rejected President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s\u00a0landslide victory.<\/p>\n The final count showed that Hassan’s Chama Cha Mapinduzi won 97.66 percent of the vote.<\/a><\/p>\n Chadema, which was\u00a0barred\u00a0from the election for refusing to sign a code of conduct claimed\u00a0the results were false.<\/p>\n It a post on social media, it said: “Chadema strongly rejects the so-called election results announced by the National Electoral Commission. These results have no basis in reality, as the truth is that no genuine election took place in\u00a0Tanzania.<\/p>\n “The countrywide demonstrations are clear proof that citizens did not take part in what is being called an election, and that they reject anyone emerging from this flawed electoral process,” the statement added.<\/p>\n Tanzania opposition presidential candidate banned from running<\/a><\/p>\n The EU added: “The absence of fair conditions in the period leading up to the elections was marked by reports of abductions, disappearances, and violence restricting civic and democratic space.<\/p>\n “The EU calls for the release of all detained political leaders, a transparent and fair trial for those arrested as well as a prompt and thorough investigation into all reports of abductions, disappearances, and violence.”<\/p>\n Hassan, who was vice-president between 2015 and 2021, rose to the top job following the death of\u00a0John Magufuli.<\/p>\n On Satuday, Hassan\u00a0appeared at an event in the administrative capital, Dodoma on Saturday to receive the winner’s certificate from electoral authorities.<\/p>\n The 65-year-old hailed Tanzanians for voting overwhelmingly for a female leader and added: “Now the election is over, it’s time to unite our country and not destroy what we’ve built over more than six decades.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe will take all actions and involve all security agencies to ensure the country is peaceful.\u201d<\/p>\n Tanzania heads to polls with opposition barred and democracy under strain<\/a><\/p>\n A Chadema spokesman told the French news agency AFP on Friday that “around 700” people had been killed, based on figures gathered from a network checking hospitals and health clinics.<\/p>\n A security source and diplomat in Dar es Salaam both told AFP that deaths were “in the hundreds”. The government has disputed the figures.<\/p>\n A spokesman for the UN human rights office, Seif Magango, on Friday told a UN briefing in Geneva by video from Kenya that credible reports of 10 deaths were reported in Dar es Salaam, alongside Shinyanga and Morogoro towns.<\/p>\n