Tanzania’s president on Tuesday lifted a ban on opposition rallies imposed by his powerful predecessor in 2016, pointing to political rivals seeking to restore democratic traditions.
“I am here to announce that the ban on political rallies has now been lifted,” President Samia Salohu Hassan, who took over after John Magofuli’s death in 2021, told a gathering of political leaders at the State House in Dar es Salaam. is given.”
“It will be the government’s responsibility to ensure security during the rallies, but I urge all politicians to practice civilized politics,” she added.
Hassan is under pressure to break with some of the more hardline policies of Magufuli, who came to power in 2015 as a no-nonsense man of the people but has been accused of cracking down on dissent.
Nicknamed “The Bulldozer” for his uncompromising style, Magofuli banned political rallies early in his first term, but critics said the decision only applied to opposition groups. had gone.
Freedom of speech and the press were also curbed and opposition leaders were detained in a major crackdown on dissent under their leadership in a country in East Africa.
Hassan has tried to reconcile with the opposition since taking power, but has previously been branded a “dictator” by his critics, and concerns remain about the state of political and media freedoms. .
In 2021, a newspaper owned by the ruling party was suspended for publishing a story saying Hassan would not run for office in 2025.