ZANZIBAR PRESIDENCY ELECTION RESULTS

Candidate (Party)	Number of Votes	% of Votes
Amani Abeid Karume (CCM)	239,832	53.18%
Seif Shariff Hamad (CUF)	207,773	46.07%
Haji Mussa Kitole (Jahazi Asilia)	2,110	0.47%
Abdallah Ali Abdallah (DP)	509	0.11%
Simai Abdulrahman Abdallah (NRA)	449	0.10%
Mariam Omar (SAU)	335	0.07%

Registered Voters 507,225
Total votes cast 460,581 [Voter Turnout: 90.8%].
Total Valid Votes 451,008
Out of these President Karume got only 23,000 voters in Pemba according to the Guardian.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTION RESULTS

Party	Number of Seats (50)**	No of seat (2000 elections)
Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM)	30	34
Civic United Front (CUF)	19	16
Undeclared (by-election to be held)	1

*Out of a total of 76 seats, 50 are directly elected.

The Zanzibar Electoral Commission declared President Karume to have been elected again and his CCM party were awarded the majority of seats in the House of Representatives. The opposition refused to accept the results. The division in opinion between the main island of Unguja where the ruling CCM won every parliamentary seat except one and Pemba, where the opposition CUF won every parliamentary seat and also every local council seat except one, became all too clear.

Examples of constituency results:
Tumbatu (Unguja) CCM 5,164 CUF 4,826
Uzini (Unguja) CCM 12,486 CUF 653
Kojani (Pemba) CCM 601 CUF 9,080

ZANZIBAR – REACTIONS

Zanzibar President Amani Abeid Karume

President Karume, at his inauguration on November 2nd praised the people for what he called their political maturity. This had given room for free and fair elections …international observers had concurred that the elections were free and fair and this had earned respect for the country. There had been minor incidents of violence but these had been in vain because the security forces had quashed them…the instigation of violence by CUF ….was a sign of political immaturity. His victory had been assured following various reforms he had introduced and the upholding of peace and security which he had ensured. This had been aided by the Muafaka agreement signed between the parties……

CUF Secretary General Seif Shariff Hamad: “We do not recognise the new government. We will not cooperate with it”. He accused CCM leaders of colluding with ZEC to manipulate the results of the election. “Votes were rigged. Some people voted more than three times…..”

CCM Party Secretary General Philip Mangula: ‘Foreign countries should desist from issuing statements that could fuel violence among Tanzanians….. a friend who wants to see Zanzibar and Tanzania as a whole in conflict cannot be counted among our true friends…. true friends should not issue statements which will encourage or incite bad intentioned people…. there had been some minor irregularities, especially in Stonetown, but these were two minor to render the whole exercise undemocratic. People were free to make their choices ….’

Zanzibar Chief Minster Shamsi Nahodha: ‘Political pluralism has retarded development and fomented animosity among Zanzibaris…. the multiparty system is an impediment in efforts to bring about rapid development in Zanzibar, in addition to being a source of senseless enmity in the isles…..’

Lord Steel of Aikwood, the former Liberal Democratic leader and former President of Liberal International (to which CUF is affiliated) quoted in The London Times; “These are the least transparent elections I have seen in 30 years of observing elections” (Thank you Simon Hardwick for this – Editor).

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, answered questions in the House of Commons from Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Menzies Campbell who wanted clarification on the elections which he said had been ‘marred’ by irregularities, especially in the counting of votes. Had the UK government communicated with the governments of Zanzibar and Tanzania regarding the irregularities? Why did the British High Commissioner in Dar es Salaam attend the swearing-in ceremony of President Karume despite the fraudulent elections? Straw replied: “Our diplomatic representatives in Dar es Salaam kept a close watch on the elections, and the general feeling of the international observers was that the polling was better this time than in past elections. Yet there were some irregularities, especially in Unguja. Many observers have called for a thorough investigation of the matter. Britain and the EU agree with this position and have communicated this to the governments of Tanzania and Zanzibar.”

THE OBSERVERS

The Tanzania Elections Monitoring Committee (TEMCO): ‘The elections were free and fair despite a number of pitfalls. Irregularities were minor…..’

The African Union: The elections were free and fair.

The East African Community Observer Team commended the elections for the high standards of independence, commitment, non-partisanship and transparency. The BBC and CNN had blown out of proportion the isolated incidents of tension.

The SADC Parliamentary Forum: ‘The elections were held largely in terms of regional electoral norms, standards and guidelines and were free and fair. They showed political maturity……’

The Commonwealth Observer Team: ‘In many parts of Zanzibar election day went well…. it was peaceful and the polling stations were orderly…… however, at some polling stations there was violence between police, local people and groups of male persons, who, it was claimed, were outsiders, and had already voted elsewhere…. in some places people with voters’ cards were allowed to vote even though their names were not on the register and in most cases the results were not posted in public at the counting centres…………the team recommends that ZEC should publish the results sheets from each polling station to remove suspicions……(later): ‘The Zanzibar media was biased towards the ruling party; the collation process was not sufficiently transparent….. but overall, this was a good election.’

National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (New York. (Chairman of the Observer Group – the former speaker of the Nigerian Senate): ‘The elections were a marked administrative improvement over past elections……. however, security forces in some instances used excessive force…… irregularities, such as under age voting and double voting were witnessed…….. many voters in urban areas expressed distrust in the accuracy of the final Permanent Voters Register which was not available to the public until election day…….’

British High Commissioner Andrew Pocock, representing the European Union ‘…..although the EU did not officially observe the elections, we note the broad assessment by international observer groups that the electoral process was a marked improvement on past polls and that it was generally administered in an efficient manner. Nevertheless, there were instances, particularly on Unguja, where there were irregularities and a lack of transparency…… the EU supports the call of a number of observer groups for a thorough investigation of these anomalies………..’

Norwegian Ambassador Jorunn Maehlum: ‘A successful power sharing agreement is crucial to avert a deepening of conflict….There is need for a thorough and transparent investigation of reported anomalies and a quick publishing of polling results at all levels. (ZEC response: ‘Everything was done in the eyes of observers, reporters and political party agents. ZEC has done everything transparently).

US Democratic Senator Russ Feingold, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ….(who was not an Observer) ‘The elections were a cruel repeat of the elections held in 1995 and 2000 … the Bush administration should join with other donors to send strong, unmistakable signals to the Tanzanian government that the disenfranchisement of the people of Zanzibar is simply unacceptable….’

The US embassy: ‘Because of serious irregularities observed, the US has declined an invitation to attend President Karume’s inauguration…… some observers had noted cases of multiple voting and security forces were observed voting even though their thumbs had indelible ink indicating that they had already cast their ballots….’ Tanzania’s Director of Information Services responded: “It is very dangerous for a diplomatic mission of a big nation such as the US to agree to be used as a mouthpiece of other people and without proper verification…. Five observer missions have described the elections as free and fair.”

The Tanzania Election Media Monitoring Project (TEMP), which is managed by three partners, led by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (Tanzanian branch), and is supported by thirteen international donors, has been publishing weekly reports throughout the election campaign. Extracts from TEMP’s report for September 23-29: ‘Eleven radio stations gave CCM altogether 1,020 minutes during the week, TLP 261 minutes and CUF 91 minutes. Zanzibar Television gave CCM 16,263 seconds and CUF 262 seconds. In an earlier period (September 2-8) Radio Zanzibar gave CCM 5,500 seconds, CUF 370 seconds and other small parties 2,815 seconds.

THE LOCAL MEDIA
Some front page headlines:
The Daily News: Isles polls run smoothly
Mtanzania: Karume dume. (Karume is president)
The Guardian: Karume floors Hamad, again.
Daily Times: CCM Nambari wani. (CCM number one)
Mtanzania: Maalim Seif ajitangaza mshindi (Maalim Seif declares himself winner)
The Citizen: US rejects Zanzibar poll results
The Guardian: Karume: I’m President of all Zanzibaris

Evarist Kagaruki writing in the Dar es Salaam ‘Express’ – ‘….Looking at the complaints raised by CUF one gets the sense that some of the party’s grievances over certain flaws may be justifiable. But one cannot see how these can be addressed because the final authority over the poll is the ZEC and no court can overturn its pronouncement of the winner….. it is up to CUF to learn to come to terms with this fact….. In the meantime, however, CCM should be a gracious winner. They must swallow their pride and accept the fact that, without CUF’s cooperation in the management of social, economic and political affairs in Zanzibar, there will be great difficulties for the government in implementing development projects, particularly in Pemba. The ruling party must show readiness to invite CUF to share power with them…. CUF must behave as a respectable opposition party and renounce all forms of violence………..I have argued several times that the only viable solution to the political strife in the archipelago lies in the formation of a government of national unity….
Hilal K Sued, writing in the Tanzanian Sunday Observer: ‘First the good news – the Zanzibar nightmare is now behind us….. the bad news is that the poll’s verdict will not end Zanzibar’s woes, not in the foreseeable future, unless Almighty God endows the country with cool-headed political leaders on both sides of the Union, who will be able to confront the Isles’ teaser without the bipartisan approach that has always been the preferred style……’
The Citizen: ‘Elections in Zanzibar have become a nightmare for Tanzanians on the mainland, in Zanzibar and to many international friends who have stood by this country in times of need. Every five years the spectre of violent activism rears its ugly head besmirching the image of this country……. the international media – FT, CNN, BBC, South African Broadcasting Corporation, the Boston Globe have been awash with ugly stories about violence and allegations of ‘rigging’…… the shameful spectacle played out in Zanzibar is un-Tanzanian and an embarrassment to all Tanzanians and friends of Tanzania…. the problem in Zanzibar is that the political class has imbued the electoral process with such passionate intolerance that there is no room anymore for democracy and straight electoral contests………’
The Government owned Daily News ….. ‘The technocrats making up the Western community in Dar es Salaam failed to understand the historical and geographical divisions in Zanzibar and truly believed in CUF’s propaganda that CCM would be unseated. In their naivety, they have always subscribed to the principle that proof of democracy is in change of regime……. this short-sightedness has caused them to view CUF as the flag-bearer of democracy….the racial discrimination forming CUF’s foundation is regarded as a means to an end – the removal of CCM from power…..’
The East African: ‘CUF fell into CCM’s poll trap.’ They made an error in agreeing to the Zanzibar election being held on October 30, separate from those of the Union, with the result that the ‘rigging machine’ was not overstretched…..

Alfred Mlangila, writing in ‘The Citizen’: Many Tanzanians have been astounded by the zeal with which the US wants to see justice done in Zanzibar when the 2000 US elections were decided by a court of law rather than by voters…..

FOREIGN MEDIA
The Economist: ‘It is an article of faith among CUF supporters that the Zanzibar elections in 1995 and 2000 were stolen by the CCM. Probably they were. And despite a larger presence of international observers, the CCM was at it again this time round….Less educated CUF supporters were bullied or simply turned away; the CCM allegedly bought votes….. one CCM tactic, witnessed by the Economist, was to have registered boys as voters months ago, then whisk them through the polling stations to vote CCM when observers were not looking….. Just how many dodgy votes the CCM grabbed it is impossible to say….. Western diplomats tended to deride the vote in private but endorse it publicly, arguing that it is more important to keep mainland Tanzania stable, with its 36 million people, than to fret over the threat of more violence in Zanzibar with its one million people.

The Financial Times … the poll was seen as a test of the democratic credentials of Tanzania. It was doubtful if the elections could be seen as free and fair…… the ruling party remains accused of retaining its one-party-state tendencies and the scenes in Zanzibar are likely to taint the presidency of President Mkapa…. (Thank you Colin Hastings for this – Editor).

The Independent: ‘…. while there are deep rooted reasons for the historical divisions between the two political parties, the action taken by the security forces was inexcusable……..’
The East African: ‘ ….. the government did not seem prepared to tackle the issues that the opposition had been most vocal about – voter registration, the presence of agents at polling stations and the counting of votes….this should have been streamlined long before the election … the same issues surfaced in the 1995 and 2000 polls and raise serious questions about the Government’s commitment to democracy on the Isles….. we would appeal to the President (of Zanzibar) to take a step back from the position that he has so far adopted – that there is no room for a government of national unity…..he would do Tanzania a lot of good if he showed more flexibility and aimed for a legacy of reconciliation ……
(Thank you Betty Wells for this – Editor)