Vote annulled in Tanzania's Zanzibar region, stoking tensions

By Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Voting in Tanzania's semi-autonomous Zanzibar region was annulled on Wednesday after the local election commission cited "gross violations," a step that will stoke tensions on an island that has been a hotbed of opposition to the ruling party. An official from Zanzibar's opposition Civic United Front branded the move a ploy to rerun a vote it had won. There was no immediate comment from the ruling CCM party, but CCM officials had previously said it was on track for a slim win there. The Zanzibar vote was part of a national election to pick a new president and parliament in the east African country. Results from the presidential race began trickling in on Monday and the electoral commission is due to announce the winner on Thursday morning. Vote results released so far show the CCM candidate, John Magufuli, leading over former prime minister Edward Lowassa for the opposition coalition. Tanzania has been one of the continent's most politically stable nations, ruled for half a century by the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party although the CCM president has been changed often. But Zanzibar has often been a kernel of political tension due to its traditional strong opposition to central government. This election has been the most hotly contested in CCM's history after the main opposition parties formed a coalition for the first time, fielding a single presidential candidate for Zanzibar and a single candidate for the united republic. "I hereby officially announce that this election and all its results have been annulled and there is a need to hold fresh elections," Zanzibar Election Commission Chairman Jecha Salim Jecha said in a statement, citing "gross violations". On Monday, police fired tear gas to disperse CUF supporters in Zanzibar after they gathered to celebrate what the opposition party said was its victory. The CCM had disputed this. "It’s an attempt to try and disrupt the process and my feeling is that they just want to create chaos," CUF spokesman Ismail Jussa told Reuters after the commission's announcement. It stoked tensions across Tanzania, where the leading opposition party Chadema on the mainland said it would not recognise the results being announced by the Tanzanian election commission, citing "widespread rigging". There was no immediate comment from CCM officials. But the party has said it was on track for victory by a hefty margin on the mainland in both the presidential and parliamentary race, while it said it would also win by a tight margin in Zanzibar. The CUF in Zanzibar and Chadema on the mainland are part of the broader Ukawa opposition coalition. Under the opposition coalition pact, CUF's candidate ran for president in Zanzibar, with semi-autonomous powers, and Lowassa, who defected from CCM, was Ukawa's candidate for president of the united republic. After the 2010 elections, which were disputed but not annulled, CCM and CUF formed a government of national unity to share power. (Reporting by Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Drazen Jorgic and Mark Heinrich)