Zanzibar incumbent wins poll boycotted by opposition
by Fumbuka Ng’wanakilala,
2016-03-21 14:55:01.0
STONE TOWN — The ruling party candidate in Tanzania’s semi-autonomous Zanzibar was declared the winner in a rerun of presidential elections boycotted by the opposition.
The incumbent, President Ali Mohamed Shein, of the national ruling CCM party, won 91.4% of the votes in Sunday’s ballot, the electoral body said after it annulled the initial poll in October that the opposition said it had won.
In October, the Zanzibar Electoral Commission called for a rerun citing fraud, a charge the opposition said was made up.
The opposition Civic United Front warned of violence if the rerun went ahead on the Indian Ocean archipelago, but voting proceeded calmly.
Civic United Front leader Seif Sharif Hamad, who opted to remain in Dar es Salaam while the elections were conducted in Zanzibar, has lost four previous elections since 1995 by narrow margins. The opposition has regularly complained of voting abuses.
Civic United Front officials could not immediately be reached for comment after Monday’s declaration.
The ruling CCM won the national presidential and parliamentary poll on mainland Tanzania.
CCM’s John Magufuli launched his national presidency with an anticorruption drive, which has been welcomed by businesses.
Zanzibar was rocked by post-election violence in 2001, resulting in the death of more than 35 people.
Reuters
Zanzibar's President Ali Mohamed Shein of the ruling CCM party casts his ballot at Bungi primary school in Zanzibar, Tanzania, during re-election after the Zanzibar Electoral Commission nullification of the October 25 General Elections due to fraud. Picture: REUTERS/EMMANUEL HERMAN
STONE TOWN — The ruling party candidate in Tanzania’s semi-autonomous Zanzibar was declared the winner in a rerun of presidential elections boycotted by the opposition.
The incumbent, President Ali Mohamed Shein, of the national ruling CCM party, won 91.4% of the votes in Sunday’s ballot, the electoral body said after it annulled the initial poll in October that the opposition said it had won.
In October, the Zanzibar Electoral Commission called for a rerun citing fraud, a charge the opposition said was made up.
The opposition Civic United Front warned of violence if the rerun went ahead on the Indian Ocean archipelago, but voting proceeded calmly.
Civic United Front leader Seif Sharif Hamad, who opted to remain in Dar es Salaam while the elections were conducted in Zanzibar, has lost four previous elections since 1995 by narrow margins. The opposition has regularly complained of voting abuses.
Civic United Front officials could not immediately be reached for comment after Monday’s declaration.
The ruling CCM won the national presidential and parliamentary poll on mainland Tanzania.
CCM’s John Magufuli launched his national presidency with an anticorruption drive, which has been welcomed by businesses.
Zanzibar was rocked by post-election violence in 2001, resulting in the death of more than 35 people.
Reuters
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