An agreement between the ruling CCM and main
opposition Civic United Front (CUF) parties on the formation of an
inclusive government has been described as the only way to save Zanzibar
from plunging into political and economic crisis.
Zanzibar President Ali Mohamed Shein (l) with the Former First Vice President, Maalim Seif Shariff Hamad
This follows yesterday’s declaration by CUF that it doesn’t recognize the government of President Ali Mohamed Shein and would like the international community to impose sanctions against it.
Speaking to reporters after a two-day CUF national governing council meeting in Zanzibar, CUF secretary general Seif Sharif Hamad predicted the collapse of Shein’s government before 2020 due to pressure from disgruntled islanders and key donor countries.
Hamad, who was Zanzibar first vice-president in the former Government of National Unity (GNU), said he would agitate for more internal and external pressure to bring down the current “illegal” government.
“Let’s wait and see but I assure you that this illegal government has little chance of surviving up to 2020 before another general election is held,” he stated.
He asserted that most Zanzibaris are not interested in working with the Shein administration, and said he personally has refused to have a meeting with the president.
According to Hamad, there is still room for dialogue but Dr Shein should not be a part of it due to the “little interest” he has shown in resolving the matter amicably.
Asked about his own relationship with the Isles government since the March 20 re-run election, Hamad said he has not communicated with any one in government so far.
He said the nullification of last year’s initial election had left CUF in “darkness” as the party had already set out a governing strategy for the Isles.
He noted that many Zanzibaris had obeyed CUF’s call to boycott the re-run election.
In a separate interview yesterday, University of Dar es Salaam law professor Chris Peter Maina said although the Zanzibar constitution allows the president to form his government in the absence of a first vice-president, the Isles political standoff can only be resolved through negotiation.
“Basing on the law, the absence of a first vice president does not hinder the (Isles) government from proceeding with its business,” Prof Maina said.
He explained that the Zanzibar constitution has stipulated criteria for the formation of an inclusive government, one of them being that each party involved must get a minimum 10 per cent of all total votes in the elections.
Each party should also have at least one constituency representative, he said, adding that all the opposition parties which participated in the poll rerun failed to fulfill those stipulations and therefore did not qualify for a place in a government of national unity.
“The Zanzibar constitution also allows the president to nominate 10 MPs, but none can qualify for the position of first vice president,” he added.
In another interview in Dar es Salaam, independent lawyer Hudson Ndusyepo said the results of the poll rerun in Zanzibar did not provide a solution for the Isles political impasse, but rather widened the divisions among islanders.
Another independent lawyer, Emmanuel Safari, said the political standoff in Zanzibar can only be resolved if CCM which got 91.4 percent of the votes in the poll rerun sees any need for negotiation with the opposition parties, since constitutionally it is not a must.
Safari said CCM-CUF reconciliatory talks before the election rerun had failed to bear fruit because of the lack of an independent mediator.
“The talks were mediated by retired presidents who are all from CCM, and their position was to go for an election rerun, so it was difficult for the two parties to reach a consensus,” he noted.
The national coordinator for the Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition, Onesmo Olengurumwa, called on CCM and CUF to go back to the negotiating table.
“Since the poll rerun was highly criticized, the two parties should now resume negotiations by involving independent mediators so as to reach consensus,” he said.
The CUF national governing council meeting adopted a total of 13 resolutions, including a salute to key donor countries for freezing aid to Tanzania due to dissatisfaction with the Zanzibar polls rerun.
“We call upon the donor countries not only to stop aid to the two sides (of the Union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar), but also impose sanctions on government leaders who in one way or another contributed to the (Zanzibar) matter,” CUF interim national chairman Twaha Taslima said.
He did not mention what kind of sanctions should be considered.
On suggestions for a government of national unity (GNU) in Zanzibar, Taslima said this was now not possible even if President Shein were to use his powers to appoint ten members.
The CUF interim chairman noted that according to a 2010 Isles constitutional amendment, none of the opposition parties which participated in the re-run election managed to get the required minimum number of votes to qualify for a seat in the GNU
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