by Bayano Valy in Zanzibar – SANF 05 No 97
Tanzania’s ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), and its presidential candidate and incumbent, Amani Abeid Karume, have won the 30 October poll in Zanzibar.
Zanzibar is a part of the United Republic of Tanzania, where the Union elections were postponed until 18 December due to the death of a vice-presidential candidate. However, Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous region that also elects a local president and parliament.
Karume was re-elected for a second five-year term by 53.2 percent of the vote, with 239,832 votes cast in his favour.
His closest challenger, Civic United Front (CUF) presidential candidate, Seif Sharif Hamad, garnered 46.1 percent of the total, which accounts for 207,733 of votes cast.
Meanwhile, CCM returned 30 of its candidates to the 50-seat House of Representatives in Zanzibar. All were elected on the main island of Unguja.
CUF swept all 19 seats being contested on the northern island of Pemba, its main stronghold.
The election for one seat in Dole, on the southern island of Unguja, has been postponed to 18 December when Union elections are scheduled to be held.
The results compared to those five years ago suggest that Hamad has made some inroads into CCM territory. In 2000, Hamad recorded 32 percent of the popular vote, against Karume’s 67.
CUF lost seats in Unguja, but has continued to maintain its dominance over the island of Pemba where CCM did not manage to elect a single candidate after it had won five seats in 2000.
Although Hamad’s percentage tally of the vote increased he is less likely to be around to contest another poll. Analysts point out that he has contested and lost a number of elections, and a power struggle started during CUF’s internal nomination process must have served as a warning.
Prior to the announcement of the results, CUF leaders claimed victory and said they were not expecting anything different from the Zanzibar Elections Commission (ZEC).
It is not clear what course the leadership will take now that the results have been officially announced by ZEC, and election observers have declared the elections “credible and legitimate”.
In past polls there was strife following the announcement of the results. As a precaution the government of the United Republic of Tanzania has deployed military and police personnel to patrol the streets of the islands to avert any riots.
CCM supporters have started celebrating in the streets of Zanzibar under the watchful eye of both the police and the army.
There was a high turn-out which ZEC put at 90.8 percent – 460,581 ballots cast for the presidential elections. ZEC had registered 509,906 voters.
There were six presidential candidates, one of whom was a woman; 219 candidates to the House of Representatives (196 men and 23 women); and 340 ward and council candidates (28 of these are women).
