Military

DATE=11/08/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ZANZIBAR / INAUGURATION (L-O)

NUMBER=2-268986

BYLINE=KATY SALMON

DATELINE=NAIROBI

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The new president of Zanzibar has been sworn in. The inauguration follows violent and troubled elections on the islands that are part of Tanzania. Katy Salmon reports that President Amani Karume is seeking reconciliation with the Zanzibar opposition, which says the election was rigged.

TEXT: President Amani Karume broke with tradition when he took the presidential oath of office by giving the first-ever inaugural speech by a Zanzibari leader.

The crowd of 20-thousand people listened as President Karume promised to smooth over divisions on the semi-autonomous islands, which are part of Tanzania. He said - the time has come to open a new chapter in our history. Mr.Karume says his administration is ready to forgive the past and co-operate with anyone willing to work with it.

President Karume and his ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (C-C-M) party won more than two-thirds of the vote in elections that international observers have condemned as deeply flawed. Some polling stations failed to open and others did not have enough ballot papers.

The president's party and its hand-picked Zanzibar Electoral Commission agreed to rerun the elections in 16 out of 50 legislative districts on Sunday. There was widespread support for the main opposition Civic United Front (C-U-F) boycott and only one-in-10 eligible voters turned out. The opposition party is refusing to recognize the election results.

Civic United Front Vice Chairman, Shabaan Khamis Mloo, said his party is discussing a campaign of civil disobedience to protest the election and is lobbying diplomats to impose sanctions on Tanzania.

International donors suspended aid to Zanzibar after the last elections, in 1995, which were also tarnished by allegations of rigging.

At his rain-soaked inauguration, President Karume announced that everyone who had been arrested for election-related crimes would be pardoned. The opposition party says dozens of its supporters were beaten or picked up by security forces during the election chaos.

The new president, who is the son of Zanzibar's first president, Abeid Karume, is widely respected as a reformer within the once staunchly socialist ruling party. President Karume has been friends with the defeated opposition candidate, Seif Sharif Hamad, since their school days and many expect him to try to make peace with Mr. Hamad's party.

President Karume also made reference to 18 senior opposition party members detained on charges of treason for nearly three-years. He said he recognizes the case has dragged on for too long and hopes the issue would be resolved as soon as possible.

The Chama Cha Mapinduzi party has held power since 1964 when Zanzibar and Tanganyika united to form Tanzania. The opposition party, which is very popular in Zanzibar, wants to renegotiate the terms of the union. But Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa says this would endanger national stability. (SIGNED)

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