Zanzibar: The October 2000 Elections (continued)
Extracted from: "Zanzibar" IN Compendium of Elections in Southern Africa (2002), edited by Tom Lodge, Denis Kadima and David Pottie, EISA, 413-416.
A total of 439 759 voters were registered to vote (over 96% of the official estimated eligible voting population) on 29 October 2000.
The administration of the Zanzibar elections was chaotic and disorganised. Many polling stations opened only by mid-morning, some as late as midday, owing to an absence of ballot papers. The counting process also caused controversy. Indeed, soon after the counting had started, ZEC instructed all polling stations to interrupt the process. No reasons were given to the electoral staff. Subsequently, ZEC nullified the elections in 16 electoral constituencies in the Urban West region of Unguja, and reportedly placed a guard on the ballot boxes in the other 34 constituencies where counting was suspended. This raised considerable suspicion on the part of CUF given its deep distrust of ZEC's impartiality and integrity. ZEC announced that the 16 constituencies would be re-run the following Sunday on 5 November. These constituencies comprised 42% of voters and were the scene of the greatest irregularities on voting day.
Overall, the 2000 elections were a landslide victory for CCM. The party won the Union and Zanzibar presidencies, and a two-thirds majority in both the National Assembly and the Zanzibar House of Representatives. This majority gave the CCM the power to unilaterally amend the constitution. Benjamin Mkapa of the CCM was sworn in as President for his second term on 9 November 2000. Mkapa won 71.7% of the vote in the elections.
Leaders from three of the five opposition parties boycotted Mkapa's inauguration ceremony. Three opposition candidates - Ibrahifi Lipumba (CUF), John Cheyo (UDP [United Democratic Party]) and Augustiono Mrema (Tanzania Labour party - TLP) - cited the controversial poll in Zanzibar as the basis for their rejection of Mkapa' s presidency.
Owing to the problems on election day, a second election was scheduled for 5 November on Zanzibar. Voter turnout was reported to be lower than the previous week's poll. This followed opposition party calls to boycott the elections. CUF also withdrew its party agents from the re-run. Moreover, in the week between the two elections, police and opposition supporters clashed, with over 150 CUF supporters arrested. The absence of participation by the main opposition party in its stronghold cast even more doubt on the election result.
In the end, CCM was awarded 34 of the 50 House of Representatives seats and the Zanzibar presidency (see 2000 House of Representatives election results and 2000 Presidential election results for details). CUF held the remaining 16 seats. Amani Abeid Karume (CCM) won the presidency with 67% of the vote compared to CUF candidate Seif Shariff Hamad's 33%.
In the legislative elections for the National Assembly, CCM won 167 of the 181 mainland seats with five opposition parties sharing the remaining 14 seats. CCM also won 35 of the 50 assembly seats from Zanzibar, with CUF taking the remaining 15 seats on the islands (all from the northern island of Pemba and none of the constituencies in Unguja). Thus in total CCM won 202 of 231 seats. Only twelve women (all CCM, with three from Zanzibar) were elected to the National Assembly from constituency seats.
The situation in Zanzibar remained tense in the months following the elections, with several bomb and arson attacks on government institutions, including a 26 December 2000 bomb attack on ZEC offices in Pemba. By the end of January 2001 over 30 opposition protestors had died in clashes with authorities, 1 500 Zanzibaris had fled the country and CUF members were boycotting their seats in the National Assembly and House of Representatives. In early April 2001, 19 CUF members of the House of Representatives and 15 MPs in the National Assembly were removed from their seats for being absent for three consecutive sessions without permission from the speaker. This action left CUF with only two constituent members of parliament and four women elected on the reserved seats. The CCM also passed legislation that extended the time frame for by-elections from within 90 days of a vacancy to 24 months. The newly elected president of Zanzibar, Amani Karume signed an emergency certificate to amend the islands' law to conform to the new application for by-elections in the National Assembly.
Whereas the mainland elections were welcomed as free and fair by international observers, including a substantial EU mission, the Zanzibar elections were characterised by the Commonwealth as follows:
In many places this election was a shambles. The cause is either massive incompetence or a deliberate attempt to wreck at least part of this election; we are not yet in a position to know which. Either way, the outcome represents a colossal contempt for ordinary Zanzibari people and their aspirations for democracy.