Political reconciliation agreement signed

The ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party and the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) on Wednesday (10 October) signed an agreement to end political animosity over last year's elections on the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar.

Under the accord, a permanent voters register will be established, and electoral laws and policies reformed, in an attempt to ensure a level playing field for all political parties, AFP news agency reported on Thursday.

It was also agreed that by-elections would be held in Zanzibar for seats which were declared vacant by the Zanzibar legislature after CUF members refused to take them up following last October's parliamentary elections.

Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, Zanzibar President Abeid Amani Karume and CUF Chairman Ibrahim Lipumba all attended the signing at State House, Zanzibar. Karume said the agreement would have little impact if the parties did not work to implement it fully.

A reconciliation agreement was signed in May 1999, under the auspices of the Commonwealth, to end the then four-year political crisis that stemmed from the CCM's widely-disputed 1995 general election victory in Zanzibar, but little of it was ever implemented.

Lipumba said on Wednesday he was broadly satisfied with the new agreement but would have preferred a re-run of the October elections. "That has not been possible but we agreed to set up a presidential commission which will be mandated to implement the peace accord to the letter," he said.

Talks between the two main parties followed bloody political clashes on Zanzibar on 27 January in relation to a CUF protest march, declared illegal by the government.

Under the reconciliation agreement an independent commission is to be established to investigate the cause of the clashes will be established, and all political parties are to be allowed to conduct their activities without threats and intimidation by state security forces, AFP reported.

Zanzibaris broadly welcomed the new agreement but said it was important that it be fully implemented, the 'Guardian' newspaper reported on Thursday. Many interviewees said they hoped that the unwarranted arrest of CUF members on the islands might now end, the report added.