by Bayano Valy in Zanzibar – SANF 05 no 92
Zanzibar’s two main political parties presented two opposing views of history as each party made a last ditch attempt to rally its electoral base and undecided voters in the final rallies on the eve of the 30 0ctober poll.
Elections in the United Republic of Tanzania have been postponed to 18 December following the death of an opposition vice-presidential candidate. However, the local elections in the autonomous region of Zanzibar will proceed as planned, in accordance with the Zanzibari electoral law, thus demonstrating the legal and political autonomy of the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC).
Two sets of elections were scheduled for 30 October, the national elections on the mainland and the islands of Zanzibar for the Union president, parliament and local councillors; and the Zanzibar elections.
The Union elections were delayed under the Tanzanian electoral law that makes provision for additional time for nomination and campaigning in the event of the death of a presidential candidate or running mate.
The ZEC consulted with the two main parties, the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and the opposition Civic United Front (CUF), and it was agreed that the elections for the islands’ president, the House of Representatives and local councillors should go ahead as planned.
That means Zanzibaris will vote on 30 October and again on 18 December in the Union elections.
Saturday marked as the final day of the Zanzibar campaign and both parties managed to turn up large crowds of about 5,000 each.
Dr Salmin Amour, who was president of Zanzibar in a CCM government before the incumbent Amani Abeid Karume, told the jubilant crowd “that tomorrow will write yet another page to the history of Zanzibar.”
He said Zanzibaris should not forget the history of revolution. The islanders, especially those of African descent, waged a revolt in 1964 after years of minority rule, following manipulation of constituency boundaries by the former British colonizers who tried to sustain an Arab elite.
Local analysts say it would have placated the Africans and their allies, people of Shiraz descent from Persia, if proportional representation or even a government of national unity had been established after the 1963 elections were won by the Afro-Shiraz Party (ASP). The ASP got 54.21 percent of the votes cast, but in the ensuing distribution it obtained only 13 seats against 18 for the Zanzibar Nationalist Party (ZNP) and its coalition partner, the Zanzibar and Pemba People’s Party (ZPPP).
This fuelled the ASP to revolt against the islands’ Arab elite and seize power, led by Sheikh Abeid Karume, the father of the Zanzibari incumbent.
Zanzibar then joined Tanganyika to form the United Republic of Tanzania, but retains its own governance structure and electoral system in addition to representation in the Union government.
The ASP became one of the precursors of CCM and the ZNP/ZPPP evolved to form CUF.
It was certainly this history that Amour wanted his listeners to have in mind when depositing their vote on 30 October. Furthermore, he said, multi-party democracy “doesn’t mean that we should change the history of the revolution.”
This was a reference to suggestions that should CUF win the elections it would turn the islands back to the Sultan of Oman who was born in Zanzibar, and thus break away from the Union. Such a measure would require a two-third parliamentary majority vote which in the current dynamic of the islands is highly unlikely.
“Whoever wants to delete that part of our historic revolution is not fit to be a leader of the Zanzibaris,” he said.
Countries such as the United States and France had revolutions but nobody spoke about erasing history when later on the system of government changed or another party won, he said, and nobody taught another different version of their history.
Speaking immediately after Amour, the incumbent Karume also insisted that history was important and that CCM was the only party committed to keep the islands in the Union.
He urged Zanzibaris to vote CCM for peace and tranquillity.
On the other hand, the CUF leader, Saif Shariff Hamad, said that Zanzibaris under successive CCM governments have been divided, and need to be united under CUF leadership.
Zanzibar was like a house divided which cannot stand on its foundations, and this is something that if he won he would correct, he boasted.
“If I’m chosen I’ll bring all Zanzibaris together, and I’m going to create a coalition government with all parties returning members to the House of Representatives,” said Saif.
He urged Zanzibaris to vote in peace and refrain from any scenes of violence.
Saif also praised other opposition leaders present at the rally, namely Freeman Mbowe of the Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema) and Dr Senkondo Mvungi of NCCR-Mageuzi. For him, their presence showed that the opposition was united and cooperating.
ZEC said that the 1,560 polling stations will open at 7 am on Sunday and close at 5 pm after which a police officer will stand behind the queue so that nobody coming later can be allowed to vote.
The distribution of ballot boxes will start at midnight and end before 5 am ahead of the vote.
Counting will take place at the polling stations after the close of the poll, starting with the presidential ballots, followed by House of Representatives, and finally the local councillors. Party officials will be present during the voting procedure.
CCM will hope to continue its popularity on the main island of Unguja and attempt to make inroads in
