New Zanzibari president calls for unity

Zanzibar president-elect Amani Abeid Karume of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party was sworn in on Wednesday after the results of controversial elections on the islands were announced the previous day. As thousands of celebrating CCM supporters flooded into the streets of Zanzibar, questions were being asked about the future of the volatile semi-autonomous islands. The poll re-run in 16 constituencies on Sunday was boycotted by the CCM's main rival, the Civic United Front (CUF), which had demanded completely fresh elections following evidence of irregularities during the main polling the previous week. No international nor opposition observers were present for the re-run. According to the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC), Karume won 67 percent of the votes, while his opponent Seif Sharif Hamad of the CUF took 33 percent of the votes cast. ZEC chairman Abdulrahman Mwinyi Jumbe accused some opposition politicians of trying to "humiliate the commission", and alleged that a section of the international observers had "violated the norms they vowed to uphold", Tanzanian radio reported. But CUF vice-chairman Shaaban Mloo called on party supporters not to succumb to "harassment and torture from law enforcers", raising fears of further violence on the streets of Zanzibar. During the elections, CUF supporters were beaten and intimidated by the security forces. Mloo told a news conference he was afraid the swearing-in ceremony "could be marred by police beating of his party's sympathisers" and stressed this would not be tolerated. Since the announcement of the results, there have been at least two bomb blasts in Zanzibar, one in Bumbwini, a CUF stronghold. No casualties have been reported, neither have the perpetrators been found, although police say they are continuing investigations. In his first address to the nation on Wednesday, Karume pledged to grant an amnesty to all those arrested during the election violence. He also called for unity, warning that "politicians who join groups that threaten the peace and stability of our country will find themselves confined by law". Karume added that he hoped to "resolve as soon as possible" the treason trial of 18 CUF activists who have been detained since 1997. The London-based rights group, Amnesty International, has expressed the opinion that the treason charges are "politically motivated and aimed at silencing peaceful opposition to the Zanzibar government".