In a statement released on Monday, Mr Lowassa, said that the president tried to persuade him to rejoin CCM, but he declined the request.
Mr Lowassa defected to the main opposition Chadema in the run up to the 2015 general elections and was the party presidential flagbearer.
Mr Lowassa had also been quoted as declaring support for President Magufuli in national development, sparking public debate.
Tanzanian main opposition leader Edward Lowassa has allayed fears that he was contemplating rejoining the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi party, when he met President John Magufuli at State House in Dar es Salaam recently.
In a statement released on Monday, Mr Lowassa, said that the president tried to persuade him to rejoin CCM, but he declined the request.
“I didn’t agree. I told him that my decision to shift to Chadema from CCM was real and not a probability,” the statement signed by the former prime minister reads.
Mr Lowassa defected to the main opposition Chadema in the run up to the 2015 general elections and was the party presidential flagbearer.
According to the statement, a member of the Chadema central committee had downplayed President Magufuli’s call upon Mr Lowassa to rejoin CCM.
Invitation
Mr Lowassa said he met the president at State House on January 9 following an invitation from the head of state, and that he planned to brief members of the Chadema central committee what transpired at the meeting.
The former prime minister said they discussed various issues of national importance including the breach of some provisions of the Union Constitution and suppression of multiparty democracy.
The two leaders also discussed human rights and freedoms violations that have been a topic of interest in recent times, including the summary dismissal of public employees, invasion of people’s privacy, intimidation and physical attacks of opposition political leaders, as well as the social and economic hardships which ordinary Tanzanians continue to suffer from.
“It is my hope that the president will take into consideration all these issues, and work on them for the benefit of the county,” the statement reads.
Stand for transformative changes
Addressing members of the public in general, and “Tanzanians who hanker for transformative change in particular”, Mr Lowassa said he is stronger than he has ever been, and that he will not be derailed or sidetracked in his efforts to serve all Tanzanians.
“I continue with my belief in the Chadema as a political institution, and stand for transformative changes through Chadema,” he said.
The meeting had angered opposition leaders who accused Mr Lowassa unilaterally deciding to meet the president at a time when they are busy fighting his high-handed rule.
Mr Lowassa had also been quoted as declaring support for President Magufuli in national development, sparking public debate.
But some some analysts praised the move, saying the Magufuli-Lowassa meeting demonstrates political maturity.
