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Kikwete defends CCM`s stance on deadlock in Z`bar
2008-04-03 08:52:39
By Hannah Mwandoloma
President Jakaya Kikwete yesterday strongly defended his ruling CCM`s recent resolution that the recommendation that Zanzibar have a coalition government as soon as possible be delayed.
He said the resolution, endorsed by the ruling party`s National Executive Committee at the weekend, was meant to improve the recommendation and others made by the bipartisan `muafaka` negotiation team
The President, who doubles as the ruling party`s national chairman, made the remarks when delivering his routine televised monthly address to the nation.
He said the decision was a decisive step towards amicably and meaningfully concluding the `muafaka` talks between CCM and the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) ``and afford Zanzibaris an opportunity to decide on a matter that affects them most``.
``The CCM-NEC deserves every right to discuss and recommend accordingly on the proposals by the party representatives who took part in the `muafaka` talks because the parties` organs are vested with the right to make decisions on behalf of the respective parties and not otherwise,` stated President Kikwete.
He added: ``Our representatives (to the `muafaka` talks) submitted a report on the negotiations, which have taken some 14 months. CCM-NEC members reviewed all the items on the agenda of the Butiama meeting and came up with two new recommendations specifically on the proposed Isles` coalition government.``
The President explained that all that the NEC resolution aimed at was to make improvements on the modalities of the arrangement recommended by the bipartisan (CCM/CUF) team.
The team had made recommendations with regard to the structure of the Zanzibar government, including the cabinet, and the possibility of setting up a reconciliation council.
CCM- NEC instead underlined the need for the Zanzibar public to take full part in deliberations on the team’s recommendations, preferably through a referendum.
President Kikwete said the Butiama resolution was of fundamental importance ``because the CCM-NEC fully believed that the matter was highly sensitive and could trigger drastic changes in the entire governance system in Zanzibar``.
He added that the NEC saw the need for more time to review the proposed system because implementing it would mean having the party winning the election involving the other party in forming the government.
He observed that the NEC was aware that coalition governments in most parts of the world were used only for some specified time, the aim being to take the country concerned through a period of political unrest.
``We want to see the proposed system reviewed after some time to see whether there is really a need for it in Tanzania,`` noted President Kikwete, who was addressing the nation through leaders of the party and its affiliate bodies, adding that CCM expected CUF to listen to the CCM-NEC idea instead of protesting or ignoring it.
``I would like to assure the public that CCM is committed to getting a long-lasting solution to the political standoff in Zanzibar,`` he said.
In strongly worded statement issued in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday through its secretary general Seif Shariff Hamad, CUF said it would no longer enter into talks with CCM on the political impasse in Zanzibar and what it now wanted was the implementation of the recommendations made by the `muafaka` team.
A CCM/CUF peace accord signed in October 2001 called for political reforms that would enable the striking of a power balance between CCM and CUF, the two major players in Zanzibar politics.
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