The speaker of the Tanzanian parliament (The Bunge), Anna Makinda, has announced that following a request from the Constitutional, Justice and Administration Committee the government was formally deferring any debate over its proposed Constitutional Review Bill and would instead seek to resubmit a revised bill at a later date. She gave several reasons for the delay, notably the need to extend the period for public debate on the bill, and as part of this, the bill would now be published in Kiswahili, widening the number of people able to read it. She also noted that the government will seek to remove any current ambiguities in the bill identified by various critics and the committee.

In response to the delay, the opposition announced that it was calling off planned demonstrations calling for the withdrawal of the bill. The withdrawal will widely be seen as a victory for the opposition, which was arguing that a quick passage was an attempt by the government to keep a tight control over the process, whereas now it would have to move more slowly and consult more widely. However, the reality is that this is probably more a pyrrhic victory, with the government likely to remain in firm control of the whole reform process even if it does allow a superficial wider debate about some of the main issues. This reflects the fact that even if there is a wider debate it is unlikely to reach any consensus on the need for more radical reform of the constitution.