CUF to deliberate on pending Zanzibar election
THE Civic United Front (CUF) party top leaders will decide whether to take part or not in the fresh elections scheduled for March 20, 2016 as announced last Friday by the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) chairman, Mr Jecha Salim Jecha.
“Members of the executive committee will
meet next Wednesday (January 27) followed by the party Governing
Council meeting on the following day (January 28).
The party will issue a statement about
fresh elections,” said Mr Ismail Jussa Ladu, acting communication
director of the party. He was quoted from the press statement issued
yesterday as calling upon CUF members and supporters to maintain peace
and stability “at this difficult time in politics, as ZEC chairman
decides to overlook the governing laws and suppress principles of
democracy”.
Mr Jussa said that it was sad that “ZEC
that had acted indifferently still enjoyed the support of Chama Cha
Mapinduzi (CCM), but that would not deter CUF from pushing for respect
of democratic norms and the rule of law”.
The chairman of ZEC, Mr Jecha, announced
recently that the decision for fresh polls was made on January 21,
2016, and appealed for patience and adherence to election regulations.
The announcement by Mr Jecha drew mixed
reactions among Zanzibaris. While CCM, according to its Deputy Secretary
General Mr Vuai Ali Vuai, is eagerly awaiting to vote, CUF considered
the exercise as waste of time as their candidate Maalim Seif Sharif
Hamad was heading to win the nullified October elections.
According to ZEC, the October 25, 2015
postponed elections will now include Zanzibar president, House of
Representative members, and Councillors, which are under its
jurisdiction.
There will be no fresh campaigns and the
candidates previously endorsed would vie for the posts. There were also
mixed reactions in Zanzibar including vendors at Darajani area who
expressed hope for end of the current political impasse after elections,
while others said it would not be proper for polls to be held under the
supervision of ZEC that failed to take charge of the previous election.
