page_title: 2015 Tanzanian general election
section_title: Opposition
hierarchical_section_title: 2015 Tanzanian general election / Presidential election / Candidates / Opposition
caption_attribution_description: Chair: Ibrahim Lipumba, chairman, Civic United Front of Tanzania.
context_page_description: The Tanzanian general election of 2015 was the 5th quinquennial election to be held since the restoration of the multi-party system in 1992. Voters elected the president, members of Parliament, and local government councillors. By convention, the election was held on the last Sunday of October and was supervised by the National Electoral Commission. Political campaigns commenced on 22 August and ceased a day before the polling day.
  The incumbent president, Jakaya Kikwete, was ineligible to be elected to a third term because of term limits. Chama Cha Mapinduzi, the country's dominant ruling party, selected Works Minister John Magufuli as its presidential nominee instead of the front-runner, former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa. After failing to secure the CCM's nomination, Lowassa defected to the opposition Chadema party despite it once labelling him as "one of the most corrupt figures in Tanzanian society". This year's election was seen as the most competitive and unpredictable in the nation's history.
context_section_description: Four opposition parties with differing ideologies agreed to form an alliance known as UKAWA and intended to nominate a single candidate. The alliance consists of the conservative/centrist Chadema party, the liberal Civic United Front (CUF), the social democratic NCCR–Mageuzi and the National League for Democracy (NLD).
  Former Prime Minister and CCM front-runner Edward Lowassa defected to Chadema and was selected as the alliance's nominee instead of Wilbroad Slaa, who was Chadema's 2010 candidate. CUF National Chairman Ibrahim Lipumba resigned, stating that the coalition had "reneged on its agreement" on receiving those defecting from CCM.
caption: Ibrahim Lipumba resigned as CUF Chairman following Lowassa's selection as UKAWA's nominee.
exif: {}