DAR ES SALAAM: Tanzania´s main opposition party has been disqualified from upcoming general elections, the country´s election chief said, after it refused to sign an electoral code of conduct.

The east African nation has increasingly cracked down on its opposition ahead of a general election due in October.

The opposition Chadema party has accused President Samia Suluhu Hassan of returning to the repressive tactics of her predecessor, John Magufuli. Chadema leader Tundu Lissu, who was arrested and charged with treason earlier in the week, previously said that his party would not participate in the polls without electoral reform.