Zanzibar's incumbent president declared winner

By Peter Saramba Ongiri

MWANZA, Tanzania

The electoral authority of Tanzania's semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar, the ZEC, on Monday announced incumbent President Ali Mohamed Shein had won his re-election bid, after polls boycotted by the main opposition party.

Announcing the results this afternoon, ZEC Chai Jecha Salum Jecha said Shain had won the controversial re-election by 299,982 votes, or 91.4 percent of the total.

Shein from the ruling CCM party easily won after the main opposition party, the Civic United Front or CUF, boycotted the election, protesting the ZEC's decision to nullify the results of last October’s general election in which the opposition apparently won both the presidency and the house of representatives.

During yesterday’s polls, the opposition’s Seif Shariff Hamad, who claims to have won October’s election, was in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

International observers, including the European Union and other international bodies, made clear their stand by condemning not only the election re-run, but also the nullification of the October election results.

International observers also did not also go to Zanzibar to observe yesterday’s polls, except for African Union representatives.

Last October Jecha nullified the elections results due to several election irregularities, including Hamad’s decision to announce that his CUF had won the elections according to polling station tallies.

While the CUF boycotted yesterday’s’ polls, other weak opposition parties participated, ending up with less than 9 percent of the vote for some 13 parties.

Since the multiparty system was re-introduced in the country in 1992, with the first multiparty general election in 1995, there has been no easy election for Zanzibar’s ruling CCM.

In some four consecutive presidential elections, Hamad claimed to be the winner, but was unrecognized as such by electoral authorities.

In 2010, the election in Zanzibar went smoothly following constitutional amendments which led to a government of national unity between the ruling CCM and the main opposition CUF, with Hamad appointed first vice president to Shain.