Zanzibar President Amani Abeid Karume should be given a third term, a senior official of the opposition CUF has suggested.
President Karume's second and final five-year term is due to end later this year, but CUF Foreign Affairs Director Ismail Jussa said yesterday that there was a need to allow Dr Karume to consolidate peace initiatives in the Isles.
"There is nothing wrong in letting him finish what he has started," he said.
However, CCM Deputy Secretary-General (Zanzibar) Saleh Ramadhan Ferouz could not say categorically whether the ruling party supported calls for Dr Karume to be given another term.
Asked whether CUF supported the calls, Mr Jussa said: "Reconciliation in Zanzibar is more important than elections. We have had many elections in the past, but all have been a source of divisions rather than unity among the people."
Elaborating, Mr Jussa said Zanzibar had four elections before the 1964 revolution in July 1957, January 1961, June 1961 and July 1963, and three in 1995, 2000 and 2005 after the reintroduction of plural politics in 1992.
"With the possible exception of the 1957 elections, none were conducted to the full satisfaction of the electorate," he said.
He said what was really missing in Zanzibar was the people's trust in institutions charged with organising and overseeing elections.
Mr Jussa added that lasting harmony could only be attained in Zanzibar if the source of the mistrust that had existed for decades in the Isles was addressed.
He told The Citizen that contrary to the views of many, the problem in Zanzibar was neither historical nor did it have anything to do with the perceived differences between people hailing from Unguja and Pemba.
"The problem in Zanzibar is antagonism between followers of the two largest parties in the Isles," Mr Jussa said, adding that the mistrust dated back to 1988 when several senior CUF officials were expelled from CCM.
A lasting solution could be found through building trust between the two political camps by making them work together in the running of state affairs, he said.
However, CUF has denied reports that one of its members intends to table a private motion during the next session of the House of Representatives seeking to lay the ground for the formation of an interim government, which will see President Karume being given another three years in office.
Meanwhile, Mr Ferouz said whether or not Dr Karume should be given another term was a constitutional matter, which could not be decided by a political party.
"This is a matter that is supposed to be handled by government institutions and state organs such as the House of Representatives, and not a political party," he said.
He told The Citizen that the matter had not been raised in official party meetings.
However, CCM's propaganda Secretary in Zanzibar, Mr Vuai Ali Vuai, has been quoted as saying that changing the constitution to allow an extra presidential term "will curtail democracy in Zanzibar".
Meanwhile, President Karume rebuked presidential hopefuls who were mudslinging others ahead of elections set for later this year.
He made the remarks in Dar es Salaam on Saturday during an interview with state broadcaster TBC1, noting that the time for campaigning had not yet arrived.
President Karume is barred by Zanzibar's constitution from seeking a third term after he completes his second and final five-year term this year.
Dr Karume said those who had started to campaign for the presidency were flouting CCM regulations and electoral laws.
He added that the personal attacks that were flying around did no augur well for efforts to restore unity among Zanzibaris.
Commenting on calls for President Karume's tenure to be extended former University of Dar es Salaam lecturer Mwesiga Baregu said the problems in Zanzibar required a broader solution rather than banking on Dr Karume alone.
He noted that the past three Mwafakas stalled because they were wrongly formulated.
"I think Mwafaka should have been at the Zanzibar level with the two parties left to iron out their differences the national level should only come in to protect the interests of the Union as well as supplement what was agreed," he said.
The first to publicly call for Dr Karume to be given another term was the leader of the new political party, Alliance of Farmers Party (AFP), Mr Said Soud, who floated the idea during the recent Redet-organised conference on the state of politics in Zanzibar.
Mr Soud said Karume should be given at least three more years to oversee the process of healing and reconciliation he had initiated.
The Secretary-General on the Amani Forum of The Great Lakes Regional Parliamentary Forum, Dr Raphael Chegeni, supported the call yesterday.
Dr Chegeni, who is also the Busega MP, said President Karume should be given three years more to fully implement the agreement reached between him and CUF.
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