The Tanzanian general elections on Zanzibar

Abstract

Background On 29 October 2000,10 million voters in 231 constituencies cast their votes for 13 political parties throughout Tanzania. The election on the Tanzanian mainland was predictably won by the ruling CCM (Party of the Revolution) against a divided and weak opposition. In Zanzibar, on the other hand, the CCM faced a fierce challenge from the CUF (Civic United Front) as approximately 450,000 people voted in 50 constituencies for Union and Zanzibar Presidents and candidates for the Union and Zanzibar Legislatures. In the words of the staid Commonwealth Observer Group, The Zanzibar elections were not free and fair, and were in fact, “a shambles'”. The January 2001 massacres on Zanzibar and subsequent refugee crisis can be directly linked to the flawed elections and the refusal of the CCM regime to respect the majority will of Zanzibaris. Without a doubt a watershed has been reached, one that will further deepen the political, socio‐economic and constitutional crises afflicting the Isles and the United Republic of Tanzania itself.