20101106
RFI

Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete has been sworn-in for another five years following general elections earlier this week, in which he was re-elected with 61 percent of the vote. The polls were marred by a low voter turnout, with the main opposition candidate Wilbrod Slaa, of the Chadema party, claimed there was vote rigging. He took 26 percent.

Kikwete, who enjoys a positive image abroad and is credited with steering his country's economy, saw his winning margin drop from the 80 percent he garnered in 2005.

But his party, which has ruled the country since independence in 1961, remains dominant and took the majority of parliamentary seats.

Political analyst Elisante Olé Gabriel, of Mzumbe University in Morogoro, told RFI that despite the claims of rigging, Kikwete can legitimately take on his final term in office.

"The election was fair. There were challenges mainly on the counting side, so the opposition party probably used this problem, which was acknowledged by the National Electoral Commission," Gabriel said.

"I notice that it's only Chadema who's saying that the election was not fair."