member of the Union Parliament. Changes to the Zanzibar Constitution in April 2002 allowed both the CCM and CUF parties to nominate members to the Zanzibar Electoral Commission. In May 2003, the Zanzibar Electoral Commission conducted by-elections to fill vacant seats in the parliament, including those seats vacated by the CUF boycott. Observers considered these by-elections, the first major test of the reconciliation agreement, to be free, fair, and peaceful. President Mkapa, Vice President Ali Mohamed Shein, Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye, and National Assembly members will serve until the next general elections in 2005. Similarly, Zanzibar President Karume and members of the Zanzibar House of Representatives also will complete their terms of office in 2005. , Tanzania was ranked Partly Free by Freedom House. The 2011 Democracy Index marked Tanzania as a "hybrid regime", ranking it 90th out of 167, an improvement from 92nd the year before, but preceding a decline on a number of metrics as shown in subsequent Freedom House studies. By 2018, many of the factors taken into account by Freedom House had undergone a small but significant decline, with the most recent reports citing a marked deterioration in the rights of civil society and reduced the abilities of political opposition to criticize the Magufuli regime. Tanzania remains in the "Partly free" category as of 2018. According to Human Rights Watch since the election of President John Magufuli in December 2015, Tanzania has witnessed a marked decline in respect for free expression, association and assembly. On 19 March 2021, Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan became the new president after the sudden death of President John Magufuli. She is the first female President of Tanzania. Executive branch |President | Samia Suluhu | Chama Cha Mapinduzi | 19 March 2021 |- |Prime Minister |Majaliwa Kassim Majaliwa |Chama Cha Mapinduzi |20 November 2015 |- |Vice-President of Tanzania |Philip Mpango |Chama Cha Mapinduzi |31 March 2021 |} Tanzania's president is elected by direct popular vote for a 5-year term. The president appoints a prime minister who serves as the government's leader in the National Assembly. The president selects his cabinet from among National Assembly members. The Constitution also empowers him to nominate 10 non-elected members of Parliament, who also are eligible to become cabinet members. Legislative branch The unicameral National Assembly of Tanzania or Bunge has 393 seats — 264 elected by popular vote, 113 allocated to women chosen by their