Tensions simmer ahead of Zanzibar vote
by Chris Tomlinson

The Associated Press    Translate This Article
28 October 2005

ZANZIBAR, Tanzania (AP) - On the narrow streets of Zanzibar, women wear bright African cloth, pastel Indian tunics and black head-to-toe veils, reflecting the multiculturalism that has thrived on these islands for centuries.

It is a picture of peaceful co-existence, the norm in this archipelago. But months of violence in the lead-up to weekend elections are proof of political, racial and religious tensions.

Sunday's vote has greater significance than ever before, with many Zanzibaris viewing the balloting as Western-style democracy's last chance. Two previous elections were seen as deeply flawed by violence and fraud. A third in that mold would give radicals fodder for their argument that Islam is the only answer to the island's problems.

``Western democracy has not worked in Zanzibar,'' said Mussa Ame Mussa, a leader in Zanzibar's Islamic Propagation Organization.

Mussa says his group is merely observing the elections and stays out of politics. But he was recently arrested and charged with making radical speeches criticizing the government. He called for the formation of Islamic parties, banned in Zanzibar under the constitution.

More than 90 percent of the people of Zanzibar, a semiautonomous part of Tanzania, are Muslim. Overall, Tanzania's population of 36 million is about 44 percent Christian and 34 percent Muslim.

Most Zanzibaris follow a gentle form of Sufi Islam. The more fundamentalist sects have always had a hard time taking hold here.

Nevertheless, the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party has always used the specter of radical Islam in election campaigns, with slogans such as ``Don't vote for the beard''—suggesting that a vote for bearded opposition leader Seif Shariff Hamad is a vote for radicals.

``I feel there is that threat'' of radical Islam, said Hamad, the presidential candidate of the Civic United Front, or CUF. ``Especially in areas where the people are poor, desperate, where there is no hope—there you will find these youths who will be influenced by these radical forces.''

Hamad's Civic United Front also plays the religion card. At a rally Thursday, its director of elections, Ayub Mohammed, accused the ruling party of using ``Jewish witchcraft'' to win the election.

Government officials give mixed messages on how serious they find the threat of radical Islam. Vuai A. Vuai, secretary for the department of ideology and publicity for the ruling party, said he doesn't believe it is a problem, though the immigration department has deported a number of foreign imams for preaching fundamentalism.

Mosque attendance and the number of people wearing Islamic clothing have increased since 2000, something Mussa attributes to the U.S. war on terrorism, widely perceived here has a war on Islam.

Zanzibari politics have always had a racial component. Zanzibar was once the capital of the sultan of Oman, and residents of Arab descent held power. A revolution in 1964 led by an ethnic African Zanzibari overthrew the sultan and left more than 15,000 people dead, most of Arab or Indian ethnicity.

The ruling party, whose Swahili name means ``the party of the revolution,'' tries to keep the secular, socialist spirit alive.

``I support the party of the revolution, even though there are no jobs for the younger generation,'' Abdullah Hassan said in hushed tones in the middle of an opposition stronghold. ``A snake is a snake, and CUF is for the Arabs, and I'm against that.''

There have been no reliable polls to determine who might be leading in the campaign for the semiautonomous archipelago's presidency and legislature, but both sides have already claimed victory. Hamad has promised to send thousands of peaceful demonstrators into the streets if he concludes the election is stolen.

The opposition leader has lost two elections his supporters say were rigged. If they believe he has allowed a third election to be stolen from him, they will turn elsewhere, said Mussa, of the Islamic Propagation Organization.

``They will think that democracy has failed, and because they are Muslims, they will seek an alternative to change the government,'' Mussa said. ``It will give a chance to Muslim fundamentalist groups to come here in Zanzibar.''

Copyright© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.



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