THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has formally placed on the Government Gazette the regulatory code of conduct for this year’s general election.

The regulations are a key aspect of the legal framework basically intended to ensure integrity, transparency and peaceful conduct during the presidential, parliamentary and local government elections, scheduled for late October.

Published under Notice No. 247 of 2025, the regulations form part of the Subsidiary Legislation Supplement No. 16, released yesterday, after the code of conduct was signed by 18 political parties.

It provides clear instructions for political parties, candidates, the media and the public on what is permissible during the election period, even as the gazetting of the guidelines widens the controversy on the matter.

The commission has formally declared that the leading opposition party, Chadema, was automatically disqualified from participating in this year’s polls in the wake of its refusal to append its signature to rules set out in the code of conduct document.

The deadline was set for last Saturday, April 12, upon which any party failing to turn up for signing on the dotted line would be deemed to be in default of eligibility for the polls, thereby disqualifying the party from participating in the scheduled polls.

This code of conduct signing event was days after Chadema national chairman Tundu Lissu was arrested and charged with treason, picked up by police officers in Mbinga, in the southern highlands, pursuing his campaign for vast electoral reforms.

While the issue of the chairman’s incarceration and treason charges was holding public sentiments on an hourly basis, INEC set out the final date for signing the code of conduct, which the Chadema national secretariat refused to oblige.

The party had set out earlier that it would not participate in the code of conduct signing ceremony on account of it unmet demands for voting reforms, whilst its removal casts a show on the election as the absence of the opposition party and in particular its chairman to contest with President Samia Suluhu Hassan diminishes excitement on the polls, analysts noted.

The party has contested the electoral commission’s current structure, with members directly appointed by the president, as undermining the credibility of elections, while the state authorities accuse Lissu of attempting to disrupt the election and incite rebellion.

While the Chadema leader remains in custody, with the treason case adjourned to Thursday next week, the party chief legal officer, Dr Rugemeleza Nshala, has insisted that the charges are politically motivated.

"You cannot separate these charges from politics," he quipped in a statement.