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TANZANIANS
FLOCK TO POLLS AS ELECTION PROCEEDS SMOOTHLY Updated: 29 October 2000
by Webmaster
DAR es SALAAM,, Zanzibar-29 October After a two-and-a-half month
general election campaign Tanzanians were at the polling centres early this morning
waiting for officials to receive them at 7 a.m. In the urban areas, the rural areas and on
the Zanzibar Islands, voters in their millions queued peacefully under blazing hot skies
to vote for their presidential, parliamentary candidates and local councillors.
One of the first to vote was incumbent President Benjamin Mkapa who arrived at Bunge
Primary School near State House and cast the first vote, followed by his wife Anna and
surrounded by a sweating, shoving press corps.
Showing no signs of fatigue, despite a grueling schedule, Mkapa exuded confidence and
joked with the media following his vote."I used to be one of you people," he
said, "maybe when I'm finished this job I can get work there again." Mkapa was
once editor of a local daily newspaper before entering politics.
Wearing a well-cut navy blue safari suit, he left the poll for his regular Sunday morning
mass."I hope there will be a full turnout, that people will be tolerant and
respectful of differences and, of course, I voted for the victory of my party."
As leader of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), Mkapa is seeking re-election to his
second term as president. He faces three opponents, Ibrahim Lipumba of the Civic United
Front (CUF), Augustine Mrema, of the Tanzania Labour Party and John Cheyo of the National
Democratic Party (NDC).
None is given much chance of unseating the popular Mkapa but all have indicated they will
accept the results of the election. Mkapa won 61.8 percent of votes cast in 1995 and is
expected to do at least as well this time, if not better.
Mrema, voting in a small poll in a working-class neighbourhood of Dar es Salaam arrived
about 10.30 a.m. and told reporters "if things go as I have seen them around the
city, I will certainly have no difficulty accepting the outcome." He ran second in
1995 under the banner of another party, but it is CUF which is expected to make the
strongest opposition showing.
"The electoral procedures are good, they are free and fair and much better than
1995," Mrema said.
These are the second multi-party elections in Tanzania since independence in 1961 and the
first time all three sets of elections have been held on a single day. Counting three
--or, in the case of Zanzibar, five -- sets of ballots in one day will strain the process
some observers claim and make accurate counts difficult.
More than 10 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots at 38,364 polling stations
on mainland Tanzania and the Zanzibar Islands where there are an additional set of
elections for president and members of the House of Representatives under Zanzibar's
semi-autonomous membership in the United Republic of Tanzania.
There are 231 elected seats in the Union Parliament and some 13 registered parties vying
for election from among 862 candidates.
Campaigning ended Saturday with appeals from every leader to accept the results as
announced by the National Electoral Commission (NEC), likely on Tuesday although
preliminary results will begin tricking in tonight as the polls close at 4 p.m. on the
mainland and 5 p.m. on Zanzibar.
Polling stations were usually cramped, often makeshift structures with plastic roofs but
the serious manner of officials and party agents, as well as voters, indicates that
multi-party democracy is here to stay. In keeping with Tanzanian "traditions"
women and men form separate queues, have their names called out, then verified from
registration lists, given three ballots which are marked and deposited in three clear
plastic tubs - a blue lidded one for president, black for parliament and white for
councillors. The process is slow but Tanzania has many polling stations so the queues are
much shorter than in many other southern African elections.
The spotlight is on Zanzibar where Tanzanian Defence Forces are patrolling the streets and
the situation is still described as tense. Two candidates are seeking the presidency:
Amani Abeid Karume for CCM and Seif Shariff Hamad for CUF. The race is very tight and
there are fears that violence could break out as it did in 1995 when CUF lost narrowly and
blamed CCM for rigging the election.
However, both candidates appealed yesterday for calm during the vote and said they would
accept the results. The outgoing president Salmin Amour could not seek a third term.
The Zanzibar Electoral Commission has said it will announce the results by Tuesday evening
and there will be no delays as there were in 1995. (SARDC)
This article can be reproduced with credit to SARDC and the author
Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC)
P O Box 5690, Harare Zimbabwe
Tel: (2634) 738694-6 Fax: 738693
Email: sardc@sardc.net
Website: www.sardc.net/sd/elections2000
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