DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) -{ Protests broke out in at least two Tanzanian towns, after opposition leaders called for nationwide demonstrations to oppose an assembly writing the country’s constitution, leading to the arrest of several protesters, police said on Saturday.}
The main opposition Chadema party called the protests after the government rejected calls to dissolve the Constituent Assembly, which is expected to pass a new constitution next week, the first salvo ahead of elections next year.
Police in the western town of Katavi said they arrested 16 opposition supporters on Thursday and charged them with illegal assembly.
“The suspects were arraigned on Friday and were released on bail,” Katavi police chief Dhahiri Kidavashari told Reuters on Saturday.
Chadema and two other opposition parties – the Civic United Front (CUF) and NCCR-Mageuzi – walked out of the Constituent Assembly in April after the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party trashed proposals for a new federal structure.
The opposition is seeking to challenge the dominance of CCM, which has been in power since Tanzania’s independence from Britain in 1961. Divisions between the opposition parties have long hampered their effectiveness, but they say they have now embarked on talks to name a single election candidate next year.
Police said they had arrested at least six opposition supporters in the Tanzanian town of Mwanza for staging illegal protests and have beefed up security across the country.
There were no demonstrations in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, nor in the northern city of Arusha, an opposition stronghold. Television images showed a heavy police presence in Dar es Salaam, and in other major urban centres, including Dodoma where the assembly is meeting.
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