Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) chairman Jecha Salim Jecha has announced the date for a rerun of Zanzibar election as March 20 despite resistance from the main opposition Civic United Front, which insists that it will boycott such a poll. Mr Jecha said the decision was reached by ZEC in its meeting on January 21. “I call on leaders of political parties and the general public to continue to observe peace during this reparation time, on the voting day, during tallying and on the day a winner will be declared,” said Mr Jecha in a televised announcement.
This comes after the embattled electoral chief had annulled the October 25, 2015 election results, of which CUF’s five-time presidential candidate, Self Sharif Hamad had unilaterally declared himself winner.
The row over election annulment between the ruling CCM and CUF led to mediation talks, that, however collapsed due to misunderstandings between the two partiess.
While the ruling party was insisting on a rerun saying the October election was full of irregularities, CUF insisted that a winner be declared.
Full Article: Tanzania: Zanzibar to Hold Poll Rerun in March – allAfrica.com.