Zanzibar. Opposition leader Seif Shariff Hamad yesterday said he was drafting a list of his Cabinet ministers so that they start working as soon as he is declared the duly elected President of Zanzibar.
“I have no doubt in my mind that I’m the President-elect and only waiting to be sworn in,” said Mr Hamad, adding that he was currently putting together a line-up of ministers so that he could get down to serving the people once he is sworn in.
Mr Hamad said the government he was working on includes members from CCM as provided for in the amendment of Zanzibar Constitution that introduced the Government of National Unity in 2010.
He was addressing a meeting of Civic United Front (CUF) officials from all levels called to brief them of the developments since the surprise annulment of the election results last month.
“I want to assure you that CUF won the elections and the ruling party defeated now all that remains is for me to be announced officially and sworn into office so that we can together build our nation,” Hamad who is the First Vice President in the outgoing government told the cheering officials.
The CUF supremo said he did not have any objection of working together with CCM as the law requires, challenging President Ali Mohammed Shein to gracefully concede defeat and name anyone else he wanted to work as his (Mr Hamad’s) deputy if he did not want to occupy that position.
“I honestly do not know what our colleagues in CCM fear because we have won 27 seats in the House of Representatives as they have. We will have the same number of cabinet ministers and lead the country together,” he said.
According to him, “the whole world knows who was elected president by the people of Zanzibar” and told the party’s officials to disregard “propaganda being peddled by CCM for a repeat election.”
Mr Hamad said there was no reason to repeat the elections as winners in all the levels were declared without any hitch. “What remains now is for the election authority to finalise the tallies for the presidency and declare the winner,” he said.
And speaking yesterday for the first time on accusations that he declared himself the winner of the October 25 election before the Zanzibar Electoral Commission Chairman Jecha Duni Jecha annulled the outcome, Mr Hamad said he would be ready to defend his stance in court.
“What I said was that ZEC ought to declare me as the winner because I won fairly. What is the problem in stating the obvious? I am ready to go to court and defend my position if anyone feels aggrieved,” he said.
While announcing the cancellation of the election results, Mr Jecha said a repeat exercise would be held in 90 days, but there has not been any signs on which way forward since then.
Several internal and diplomatic meetings have taken place to attempt to find a solution on the political crisis but no concrete steps have emerged yet. Most regional and international observers, AU, EAC, UN, US and EU countries have all advised against a repeat election and urged ZEC to conclude the tallying of the presidential vote and conclude the elections peacefully.
Unconfirmed media reports suggested yesterday that former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan who led the Commonwealth team of observers in the Tanzanian elections had been named mediator in the crisis.
Dr Ali Mohammed Shein whose five-year term in office expired on November 2 continues to serve in the position until the next leader is declared and sworn-in. Legal opinion remains divided whether the President was in office illegally or if the Union Constitution was also violated to allow for ascendancy of Dr John Magufuli as President despite the Zanzibar stalemate. The crisis would be Dr Magufuli’s first major test as he settles in office as Tanzania’s fifth President.
Yesterday, CUF said it would be open for any efforts to find a way out that retains the will of the Zanzibar people to determine their own political destiny.
An opposition win, they said, rekindled the hope for a better run and defended the isles of Unguja and Pemba, with the interests of the public outweighi ng those of political leaders. “That is why we are saying there won’t any overturning of the wish of the people as expressed through the ballot box,” said Mr Hamad, urging that ZEC releases the tallies of the remaining 14 constituencies.
He denied ZEC claims that there had been stuffing of votes in Pemba, CUF’s stronghold. “There was not a single voting station with more than 350 voters, many had less,” he noted.
Earlier, the opposition party’s director for planning and elections Mr Omar Ali Shehe said despite the wining presidential votes, CUF also won many seat in the Parliament and in wards. He said the party raised the number of its House of Representatives in Unguja which is CCM’s stronghold from four to nine and also raised the wards from seven to 15. CUF also swept CCM out of its only three wards in Pemba and all the elective seats in the 2015 polls.
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