Intraparty Candidate Nomination - A Gender Analysis

Tanzania is recording a comparatively high percentage of female parliamentarians, brought about by the constitutional provision of special seats for women and a guaranteed minimum threshold of female members of parliament (MPs). Yet, the provision of special seats also has profound implications on the candidate nomination for direct constituency seats, and therefore affects the structural power of women in political parties and politics at large. The gender analysis of intraparty candidate nomination processes by Consolata Sulley from the University of Dar es Salaam contributes to the assessment of female participation and representation in political parties, and therefore sheds light on the current state of gender equality in Tanzanian politics.

The study examines candidate selection rules and practices of four selected political parties in Tanzania: Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM), Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA), the Civic United Front (CUF) and Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT Wazalendo).

The analysis addresses the following questions:

1) Which national legal and institutional frameworks promote, which ones discourage gender equality in candidate nomination?

2) How democratic and gender inclusive is the candidate selection process in different political parties in Tanzania?

3) Which specific factors encourage and discourage female participation and success in political party nomination?

The analysis is complemented by a policy brief with concrete recommendations on how to make intraparty nomination processes more gender responsive and thereby contribute to more gender equality in Tanzania.