It’s now official. Chama Cha Mapinduzi in Zanzibar has stuck to its guns to have a re-run election that is now to be conducted on March 20 even as the United States and the European Union termed the past elections in the Isles as free and fair.
The announcement of the re-run by the Zanzibar Electoral Commission
(ZEC) follows the nullification of last year’s General Election by ZEC
chairman Jecha Salim Jecha on October 28.
In his nullification statement, Jecha cited shortfalls which
included differences among ZEC members, with some having turned
representatives of their respective parties.
He also cited a number of irregularities, which he said occurred
especially in Pemba, with the number of votes cast at some polling
stations exceeding that of voters registered for the polls.
A signed statement by the ZEC chairman that was made available to
the media here yesterday stated that the commission had sat on January
21 to plan the actual date for the re-election.
According to Jecha, following the nullification of last year’s
general election, the commission was busy planning, drafting, preparing
and holding different meetings in a move to see how best to conduct the
re-run election.
“This will include presidential candidates, House of
Representatives and councilors. There will be no new appointment of
candidates or campaigns,” he declared.
Jecha called upon political parties and supporters to continue
safeguarding and maintaining peace and harmony as they prepare to cast
their votes, counting of votes and announcing results.
He declared his optimism that the public will work together with the commission in fulfilling the exercise.
However, Jecha took time to plead with the public, political
parties and leaders for maintaining peace and harmony as the commission
was preparing for the re-election.
Reached for comments, Civic United Front (CUF) acting Director of
Information and Communication, Ismail Jussa Ladhu said that what ZEC has
done was contrary to the country’s constitution, insisting that the
move was decided for the interest of the ruling party, Chama Cha
Mapinduzi(CCM).
Jussa was of the view that Jecha was being pressurized by the
government to announce an election date, while Union President John
Pombe Magufuli had earlier wanted them to work on the matter through
dialogue for the interest of the people and not a particular political
party.
“We still do not recognize that re-runelection and we will continue to stand firm on that,” he stated.
Without specifying when, Jussa said CUF leaders will meet to discuss the matter and issue a joint statement to the public
Announcing an election re-run date elicited mixed reactions, with
political analysts saying Zanzibar would have done much better
respecting the voters’ verdict.
It would concomitantly work on enabling the reconciliation process
and strengthening national unity rather than calling for fresh polls
that could lead to chaos and conflict.
The Tanzania Election Monitoring Committee (TEMCO) project
coordinator, Dr Benson Bana said for his side he feels it was not a bad
idea for the Zanzibaris to re-run the election.
He said that there has been consensus amongst political
stakeholders who criticized the Zanzibar election saying that both the
Isles electoral body and opposition parties had violated the process.
According to Dr Bana, the Civic United Front (CUF) has the right to
participate or boycott the polls re-run, but however, they should be
encouraged to participate.
“What is important is to look into the pluses and minuses of
boycotting the re-run polls. The interest of Zanzibaris should come
before that of individuals and political parties,” he emhasized.
He said Zanzibaris lived for centuries without CUF and Chama Cha
Mapinduzi (CCM) and they will be surviving both parties, continue to
survive with or without them, taking into account the current political
impasse in Zanzibar.
“The only way forward is polls re-run as a short term, urgent,
important solution. Zanzibar needs a government with the consent of the
electorate, thus a new election is the best option,” he said.
For her part, acting executive director for the Legal and human
Rights Center (LHRC), Emelda Urio commented that the decision taken by
the commission has surprised them as despite the ZEC announcement to
re-run the elections the commission had not stated what transpired in
high level political meetings held to resolve the crisis.
She said that citizens awaited a resolution being reached during
the meetings but the commission was announcing the date without even
involving the various stakeholders who participated in efforts to
resolve the dispute.
“The chairman of the commission did not disclose the content of
discussions held in various meetings and he was supposed to tell the
public what was agreed and shortcomings noticed during the previous
elections and how this was being solved,” she pointed out.
She also wondered what procedures the decision to re-run the
election has followed and how this bears upon ZEC having failed to
perform its duty during the first election.
“So this shows how the commission has failed and it has does not
have the mandate to re-run the election due to its failure,” the acting
director underlined.
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