Opposition parties in Tanzania say they are planning legal action to try to overturn changes to the country's constitution which were passed by the National Assembly yesterday.

The leader of the opposition, Fatma Maghimbi, said that they particularly objected to a clause allowing a presidential candidate to win by a simple majority rather than over fifty per cent, and to another clause allowing the president to appoint ten members of parliament.

The government said that the old rules, which provided for a possible run-off, were outdated and expensive, but the opposition accused the government of fearing that it might fail to win outright under the old rules in the elections due in October.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service