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Tanzania's electoral body clears all 7 presidential candidates

Xinhua, August 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

Tanzania's National Electoral Commission (NEC) on Friday cleared all seven candidates who will run for the presidency in the East African nation's October 25 general elections.

The seven candidates from different political parties, including the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), returned their nomination forms to NEC headquarters in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam after they had collected guarantors from different regions.

NEC chairman Damian Lubuva told a news conference that all the candidates, including the ruling party's presidential hopeful John Magufuli and the leading opposition's candidate former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa had met all the important criteria to vie for the presidency.

The submission of the nomination forms to NEC meant that the stage was set for a bruising battle as campaigns for presidential, parliamentary and councillorship seats kick off on Saturday.

A political analyst told Xinhua that fierce competition was expected between the ruling CCM and a coalition of four opposition parties known in its Kiswahili acronym as Ukawa.

Ukawa which is made up of Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA), NCCR-Mageuzi, the Civic United Front (CUF) and the National League for Democracy (NLD) has a single candidate in each position in order to unseat CCM. Enditem