Military

DATE=11/07/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ZANZIBAR / ELECTIONS (L)

NUMBER=2-268940

BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS

DATELINE=NAIROBI

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Tanzania's ruling party has won the presidency on the Indian Ocean island of Zanzibar. But as Scott Stearns reports from our East Africa bureau, international election observers have questioned the fairness of the vote.

TEXT: Ruling party candidate Amani Abeid Karume won more than two-thirds of the vote. Electoral officials say he had more than 240-thousand ballots - twice as many as opposition candidate Seif Shariff Hamad.

The ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party, the C-C-M, also won 34 of the 50 seats in Zanzibar's House of Representatives. Electoral officials say Mr. Hamda's Civic United Front won the remaining 16 seats. The opposition C-U-F has vowed to boycott the new assembly - because, it says, the ruling party rigged the elections.

International election observers questioned the fairness of the original vote, on October 29th, when some polling stations failed to open and others lacked sufficient ballot papers.

Commonwealth observers and the opposition C-U-F party called for a repeat of the entire Zanzibar vote. The islands' electoral commission decided to repeat the polling in only 16 constituencies Sunday, so the C-U-F boycotted the ballot.

Turnout was small in opposition strongholds. C-U-F party agents were not present at polling stations.

Observers say the boycott ensured Mr. Karume's election. He will add to the party's legislative majority on Zanzibar, with 10 presidential appointments, five government-named regional commissioners and one seat for the attorney general.

/// OPT /// Depending on how 10 seats for women are divided, the ruling party could have the two-thirds majority needed to change Zanzibar's constitution.

All 16 of the opposition seats were on the island of Pemba. The party lost its only two seats on the main island of Unguja, where it boycotted the repeat ballot on Sunday. In contrast, the ruling party picked up five seats on Pemba, where it had none before. /// END OPT ///

The C-U-F says it will refuse to accept any seats from the election - in local government, Zanzibar's House of Representatives or the federal Parliament, on mainland Tanganyika.

Since decisions by the Zanzibar Electoral Commission cannot be appealed, the C-U-F is likely to take to the streets in protest. /// OPT /// Party supporters have already clashed with riot police in Zanzibar's Stone Town. /// END OPT /// There is an increasing militancy in the party, especially as the C-U-F believes it was robbed of Zanzibar's last election in 1995.

More than a dozen C-U-F leaders are in jail on treason charges. Amnesty International says Zanzibari authorities "have consistently attempted to stifle political opposition on the islands over the past few years."

C-U-F leaders have urged their supporters to be calm and quiet and wait for their directive. Party officials say they will meet next week to decide their next move.

Meanwhile, the only party that has ever ruled Tanzania looks set for another five years in power. Federal President Benjamin Mkapa has beat back several challengers. Adding Mr. Karume as Zanzibari President gives the ruling party majorities at all levels of the Union government. (SIGNED)

NEB/SS/GE/WTW