Africa-Press – Tanzania. OVER 20,000 Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) members have picked nomination forms to contest for various leadership positions in the upcoming general election as Party Chairperson, President Samia Suluhu Hassan called for fairness and justice in the candidate selection process.
Speaking to journalists at the party’s Lumumba sub-office in Dar es Salaam yesterday, CCM’s Secretary for Ideology, Publicity and Training, Mr Amos Makalla (pictured) said President Samia has instructed all screening and nomination committees responsible for selecting candidates for councillorship, parliamentary seats and Zanzibar’s House of Representatives to act justly.
“The Party Chairperson, on behalf of the National Executive Committee (NEC), has instructed selection committees to ensure justice in the selection process. We must nominate candidates fairly, without favouritism.
As we head into the election, CCM has many achievements to showcase and a strong manifesto to promote, but all this will be more impactful if we have strong candidates,” he said.
Detailing the number of aspirants, Mr Makalla said that 4,109 party members have picked selection forms for parliamentary positions.
He said 3,585 seek posts for parliamentary seats in mainland constituencies and 524 collected forms for Zanzibar’s House of Representatives.
Mr Makalla said the members are eying at 272 constituencies across the country.
Moreover, Mr Makalla added that 640 members collected forms for special seats in parliament and Zanzibar House of Representatives.
“At least 623 of the members seeking positions through special seats are from the party’s Women’s Wing (UWT) on the mainland and eight from UWT Zanzibar, while nine applied for special seats in the Zanzibar House of Representatives,” he said.
Regarding the Youth Wing, Mr Makalla said 161 members collected nomination forms. He said 154 of members are from the mainland and 7 are from Zanzibar.
He added that 62 members picked forms through the Parents’ Wing. He said 55 are from the Mainland and 3 are from Zanzibar along with 4 additional representatives, bringing the total number of parliamentary and House of Representatives aspirants to 5,475.
Mr Makalla explained that over 15,000 members have expressed interest by picking nomination to participate in councillorship positions intraparty nominations in across 3,960 wards.
He said until yesterday the party was still collecting data on the actual number of aspirants.
“In total, more than 20,000 members have shown interest in participating in the intra-party nominations for parliamentary, Zanzibar House of Representatives and councillorship positions. This is a significant increase compared to previous elections,” he said.
He added that starting today, ward political committees will begin holding meetings to propose candidates for councillorship and special seats at the ward level, with Regional political committees scheduled to start on July 9 to make the final selections for councillorship positions.
He also said that final selection of parliamentary and House of Representatives candidates will be made on July 19 by the CCM Central Committee.
“Under the new procedure, three candidates will be shortlisted for each position. The final selection for councillorship will be done by the regional political committees, while the final selection for parliamentary and House of Representatives positions will be made by the CCM Central Committee,” Makalla clarified.
Mr Makalla also highlighted the high level of enthusiasm shown by CCM members during the nomination form collection period, calling it record-breaking and a testament to the party’s strength, popularity and sound policies which continue to earn public trust.
He noted that aspirants came from various demographics, including youth and women, as well as individuals from diverse backgrounds such as artists, businesspeople and motorcycle taxi (bodaboda) operators.
The nomination form collection exercise officially began last Saturday and concluded on Wednesday
For More News And Analysis About Tanzania Follow Africa-Press
