Ruling party wins national elections in Zanzibar but islands remain divided

Overall results of Wednesday's national parliamentary elections in Tanzania were still pending on Thursday, but the National Electoral Commission announced that the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party had won the most parliamentary seats in the politically troubled semiautonomous islands of Zanzibar. Violence in Zanzibar on election day had left around 20 people injured, some seriously. Members of the security forces were among the injured, the head of Mnazi-Mmoja Government Hospital, DR Jamal Adam, said. The police have accused supporters of the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) party of instigating the violence and have arrested at least 46 people. "Police are continuing with the operation in Stone town [Zanzibar's capital] to arrest more suspects," Khamis Mohamed Simba, the assistant commissioner of police, said at a news conference on Thursday.

Zanzibar Assistant Commissioner of Police Khamis Mohamed Simba.

Election officials told IRIN that they were still compiling results for the union presidential vote in Zanzibar but that the polling and counting generally went well. As with elections in October for Zanzibar's local parliament, the ruling CCM won the majority of seats in the national parliament, but only in Unguja, Zanzibar's largest island, not in Zanzibar's smaller island of Pemba. In Pemba the opposition took all 18 seats for the national parliament; and one seat in Stone Town, on Unguja Island. However, the election commission said Unguja had 32 seats of which the ruling CCM won 30. Elections in one constituency in Unguja had to be postponed until Sunday because of technical problems. CCM supporters celebrated their victory in the streets of Unguja on Thursday but CUF supporters said they feared they would be attacked by the police. "We don't dare go out in the streets," Hassan Hussein, a CUF supporter in Stone Town, said. "We are tired of teargas, water canons, and arrests." CUF Deputy Information Officer Salum Bimani said the police had "failed to do their work impartially."