Tanzania has just completed its most competitive presidential and parliamentary elections yet, with strong implications for the political future of the country.

Tanzania inaugurated president-elect John Magufuli on Thursday following elections on October 25. Magufuli will be Tanzania’s fifth president since the country gained independence in 1964. Both the United Nations and the US have congratulated Tanzania on overcoming the tensions surrounding the elections — avoiding any major violence and ensuring another peaceful transfer of power.

This election is a real change in the status quo of Tanzanian politics and is a shift towards greater democratic process in the nation. For the first time since the introduction of a multiparty system in 1992, opposition parties have presented an actual challenge to the ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), by forming a coalition.

The opposition parties known as Chadema, the Civic United Front, National Convention for Construction and Reform, and National League for Democracy formed a coalition named UKAWA to unite against CCM.

UKAWA chose one of CCM’s top candidates to represent the coalition, allowing the opposition to tap into some of the resources of CCM’s political elite. Edward Lowassa was Prime Minister from 2005-08 until he was forced to resign for his involvement in a fraud scandal. He had previously resigned from his duties as land minister when he was implicated in another scandal.

Though the opposition party stands for change, their candidate is a man who has been involved in the corrupt Tanzanian politics they claim to be against. With his history of corruption Lowassa would not have been a good leader for Tanzania. However, UKAWA had good reason to support his presidency as his role allowed UKAWA to pressure CCM and the additional support benefitted UKAWA in the parliamentary elections.

Magufuli of CCM received 58.4 percent of the vote while Lowassa reached 39.9 percent. CCM has also retained its majority in parliament, though UKAWA’s strategy of only having one opposition party member run in each electoral zone allowed them to win many more seats.

The rising power of the opposition benefits Tanzania because it has put pressure on CCM to perform well. More voices becoming heard in Tanzanian politics will benefit democratic processes.

Magufuli ran on an anti-corruption platform, distancing himself from his predecessors in CCM who have faced several corruption scandals, including his predecessor President Jakaya Kikwete.

Many members of Kikwete’s cabinet were implicated in a $180 million energy scandal that led to the resignation of Attorney General Frederick Werema and Energy Minister Sospeter Muhongo, as well as the dismissal of Minister for Land Anna Tibaijuka.

Though CCM still maintains the presidency and a majority in parliament, the challenge presented by the opposition in this election has led to a new president who will hopefully bring some change into Tanzanian politics and clean up corruption in CCM.

The election has not gone off without any problems. The electoral committee in semi-autonomous Zanzibar announced that it was cancelling the vote due to problems that had occurred, including double-voting, vote tampering, and fist fights between electoral commissioners. The announcement came shortly after opposition candidate Seif Sharif Hamad claimed to have won the election — beating CCM member and incumbent Ali Mohamed Shein, whose term has now been extended indefinitely.

Zanzibar had also voted for president of Tanzania and these votes were not counted in electing the president, prompting the US to request the new Tanzanian administration “ensure that the will of the Zanzibari people is reflected in the prompt, fair, and peaceful conclusion of the electoral process in Zanzibar.”

Lowassa has not conceded and continues to dispute the election results. It is essential to the stability of the electoral process that one candidate admits defeat, and it is important for encouraging democracy in Tanzania that Lowassa is willing to admit defeat—his refusal to do so undermines the legitimacy of the electoral process which, though imperfect, is essential in ensuring peaceful transfers of power and avoiding the violent civil wars that have plagued the region in the past.