Tanzanian President John Magufuli dissolved the parliament on Tuesday, pledging a free and fair vote in the country, reported Reuters.
The vote is scheduled to be held in October this year but an exact date has not yet been set. The Tanzanian constitution requires that the 393-seat legislature be dissolved ahead of the elections.
Magufuli urged all political parties to avoid insults and violence during the election campaigns and rallies.
“I want to assure everyone that the elections will be free and fair, for all political parties,” the president said in an address to legislators.
The various opposition parties including the Chadema party and the Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT Wazalendo) have called for an independent monitor to oversee the elections, warning they will not be free otherwise.
Magufuli, who is expected to run for a second and final five-year term, took office in 2015 promising a crackdown on corruption, but his time in office has drawn criticism by rights groups. He has been nicknamed “the Bulldozer” for his ability to push through major projects.
Magufuli told parliament that his government had added another 3,500 km (2,170 miles) of tarmacked road in the administrative capital Dodoma since he came to power. He said a new 300-km (185-mile) standard gauge railway line between the commercial capital Dar es Salaam and Morogoro was almost complete, while a 422-km line from Morogoro to Dodoma was a third complete.
Magufuli revealed that a 6.5-trillion-shilling ($2.81 billion), 2,115 MW hydropower dam, being built next to a park that is a UNESCO World Heritage site, was 40% complete.
“Large reforms have taken place, including … restricting smuggling of raw minerals out of the country, establishing mineral markets in each region, increasing participation of artisanal miners,” the Tanzanian president said.
Magufuli has, however, been criticized for not implementing strict measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Tanzania has confirmed 509 COVID-19 coronavirus cases, with 21 deaths, according to the data from Johns Hopkins University.
