“We demand NEC should do a verification of the results and recount the votes”.
Advertisement
On Monday, Zanzibar’s opposition Civic United Front’s (CUF) candidate declared himself the victor, something that the reigning President Dr. Ali Shein of CCM disputed.
The ruling party CCM, which has been in power for more than 50 years, was facing stiff competition from a coalition of four opposition parties led by Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA).
The remaining 69 constituency results will be announced Thursday and the victor of the poll presented with certificate on Friday.
With 133 of 264 constituencies having released results in East Africa’s most populous country, John Magufuli of the long-ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) had won 56.51 percent of votes.
Official results confirming Magufuli as the president are expected this morning.
In his speech the Chairman of the Commonwealth observer group and Nigeria’s former President Goodluck Jonathan said “We were in the country on the 23 of October and they formed teams that went round the country to observe the preparations ahead of the election”.
Jecha Salum Jecha said youths had invaded polling stations, votes had been tampered with and electoral commissioners had exchanged blows.
“How could ZEC revoke only Zanzibar results while it is the same electoral body which oversees the Union’s election in the Island?” asked Mbatia, adding: “It’s obvious any irregularity in Zanzibar would also affect results on the Tanzania Mainland when it comes to the United Republic of Tanzania’s presidential elections”.
Agriculture minister Stephen Wasira – a veteran CCM politician of over three decades – lost his seat to Chadema. On Tuesday the usually busy streets of Zanzibar town were largely empty of people, with many shops shuttered as residents wait for the official announcement of poll results.
Analysts have warned that the unusually tight race could spark tensions, with the opposition providing the first credible challenge to the CCM since the introduction of multi-party democracy in 1995.
Since Sunday’s vote, residents living in areas in the city centre have experienced nightly disturbances, which they claim are caused by the military and the government’s volunteer security units.
Lowassa, who quit the CCM after the party spurned him as their candidate, said he would not concede defeat if he did not deem the election free and fair.
Advertisement
According to early figures from the National Electoral Commission (NEC), Magufuli received 2.4 million votes in the presidential race to Lowassa’s 1.7 million.
