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.

/Daily News.