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Tanzania Ruling Party Stays In Power In Zanzibar
ZANZIBAR (AFP) - Amani Abeid Karume was announced the winner of a presidential poll in Tanzania's semi-autonomous offshore state of Zanzibar, giving the long-ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) another five years in power.
His victory, with 67% of the vote, was rejected in advance by the opposition, which deemed polls here deeply flawed, a view shared by international election observers.
Karume, 52, is the eldest son of Zanzibar's first president, Abeid Amani Karume, who overthrew Arab rule in 1964, the same year that the union between Zanzibar and mainland Tanganyika was formed to create today's United Republic of Tanzania.
Karume's nomination as CCM's presidential candidate, decided by mainland party leaders, created a rift in the Zanzibar branch of the party as outgoing Zanzibari president Salmin Amour had wanted to run for a third term, but proved unable to make the constitutional changes required to permit this, according to journalists here.
While Karume is said to enjoy the full support of Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, relations with Amour and his supporters have soured and he is expected to face tough challenges in reuniting the ruling party in Zanzibar.
According to his official curriculum vitae, Karume was born on Zanzibar on November 1, 1948 and is married with six children.
Although he earned no university degrees, he has had many years of experience in government, working as an accountant in the treasury before moving on to senior posts in the Zanzibar ministries of Finance, Planning, Transport as well as Trade and Industry.
From 1990 to 1995 he served as minister of trade and industry after which he took up the post of Minister of Communications and Transport.
Since 1995, Karume has also had a seat in Zanzibar's legislative body, known as the House of Representatives.
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