Election Violence in Zanzibar – Ongoing Risk of Violence in Zanzibar 15 March 2011
Country Advice Tanzania Tanzania – TZA38321 – Revolutionary State Party (CCM) – Civic United Front (CUF) – Election violence in Zanzibar – Ongoing risk of violence in Zanzibar 15 March 2011 1. Please provide a background of the major political parties in Tanzania focusing on the party in power and the CUF. The United Republic of Tanzania was formed in 1964 as a union between mainland Tanganyika and the islands of Unguja and Pemba, which together comprise Zanzibar. Since 1977, it has been ruled by the Revolutionary State Party (Chama Cha Mapinduzi or CCM). In 1992 the government legislated for multiparty democracy, and the country is now a presidential democratic republic with a multiparty system. The first multiparty national elections were held in 1995, and concurrent presidential and parliamentary elections have since been held every 5 years. The CCM has won all elections to date. The CUF, founded in 1991, constituted the main opposition party following the 1995 multiparty elections.1 At the most recent elections in October 2010, the CCM‟s Jakaua Kikwete was re-elected President with 61.7% of the vote (as compared to 80% of the vote in 2005) and the CCM secured almost 80% of the seats. Most of the opposition votes went to the Chadema party, which displaced the Civic United Front (CUF) for the first time as the official opposition. The opposition leader is Chadema‟s Chairman, Freeman Mbowe. Chadema‟s presidential candidate, Willibrod Slaa, took 27% of the vote, while CUF‟s Ibrahim Lipumba received 8%.2 Notwithstanding the CCM‟s election success, the BBC reports that Kikwete‟s “political legitimacy has been seen by some to have been somewhat dented in the 2010 elections”, given the decline in his percent of the vote, and a total election turnout of only 42%, down from 72% in 2005.
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