PRESS REPORT SOON AFTER FIRST RUN OF ELECTION OCT/NOV 1995
TANZANIA-POLITICS: DISMAL PERFORMANCE AT FIRST MULTIPARTY POLLS
By Paul Chintowa
DAR ES SALAAM (IPS)--Tanzania's national electoral commission today ordered fresh elections in the capital's seven constituencies, admitting that the country's first multiparty polls, held yesterday, had been marred by irregularities. "Due to delays, confusion and irregularities, we have ordered fresh elections for Dar es Salaam voters next week," electoral commission chair Lewis Makame announced.Makame's announcement came after six of the 13 parties that participated in the presidential and parliamentary elections charged that they had not been fair and demanded the immediate formation of a transitional government led by the Chief Justice and comprising all political groups in the country.
In a joint statement issued after a meeting that lasted throughout this
morning, the six opposition parties said the transitional administration
should prepare fresh elections. The statement, addressed to Makame, said the opposition no longer had confidence in his commission or in the government, which had appointed it. The six parties included the main opposition group, the NCCR-Mageuzi, and the Civic United Front (CUF). They complained that election materials were delivered late and voting was delayed in many of the country's provinces.Yesterday, frustrated voters threw stones at polling centers in Dar es Salaam and some returned home after waiting for hours without getting a chance to vote.
"The commission is to blame for the entire fiasco," said Ibrahim Lipumba, presidential candidate for the CUF, the main opposition party in the Indian Ocean archipelago of Zanzibar, whose people also voted in yesterday's polls.Zanzibar and Taganyika make up the United Republic of Tanzania. Zanzibaris voted on Oct. 22 for the president of their self-governing territory and its national assembly, but those elections were also marred by irregularitIes, according to the CUF.
While the Tanzanian electoral authorities had denied the CUF's claims and rejected its call for fresh elections in Zanzibar, they were forced to admit that the Oct 29 elections had been flawed. "It's true there were delays and confusion in some provinces," said Makame, who explained that the delays were caused by returning officers who allegedly allowed more people to vote than originally scheduled."The number of materials (ballots, etc.) we had was different from what the returning officers in regions (up country) had," he explained.
Police sources said they arrested several people whom they found with fake ballot papers stamped by fake election officers. "We impounded six ballot boxes yesterday," a senior police officer said.Lipumba said the CUF had notyet decided whether to take part in next week's rerun, while other opposition parties hinted that they might boycott it. "We don't know what will happen," said Augustine Mrema, presidential candidate of the National Convention for Constitutional Reform (NCCR-Maguezi).
"Things may be tough and the elections might be rigged."The ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi also joined the opposition in condemning the NEC's handling of the polls. "We expected the commission to work diligently because they had ample time to do so," said Col. Abdulrahaman Kinana, the CCM's campaign manager. Four political parties, the CUF, CCM, NCCR-Maguezi and the United Democratic
Party, fielded candidates in the presidential polls, while 13 contested the election for the country's 270-member national assembly.
Western nations provided the Mwinyi government with $10 million in financing for the elections, the first multiparty polls to be held here in three decades, but appeared unlikely to contribute any funds for the rerun. "We are not ready to pour more money," said one Western diplomat who requested anonymity.
(END OF IPS REPORT BY PAUL CHINTOWA)
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