Mpenzi
Member
- Nov 3, 2009
- 49
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The European Union Observation Mission has called on Tanzanians to respect the outcome of the election in a bid to maintain and consolidate existing peace in the country.
Unveiling its preliminary election-observation report in Dar es Salaam yesterday, the mission said the campaign and general election in both Tanzania and Zanzibar went on peacefully despite reports of violence in some constituencies.
The EU Chief Observer, David Martin told reporters in a press conference yesterday that the mission will remain in the country to observe the aggregation process, announcement of the results and post- election developments.
He stressed that the mission stressed that it will give its final conclusion after the completion of the process including announcement of results and swearing-in of elected candidates.
"We are not going anywhere until all the election processes are completed," the EU Chief Observer said.
"We want to observe all the processes including swearing-in of elected candidates," he clarified.
After the processes, the EU mission will be in a better position to compile its final report which will be published between two and three months after the elections, he said.
The EU Chief Observer said the mission detected some weaknesses in the election such as insufficient financial resources, which barred some of the political parties from reaching many parts of the country.
In the Mainland, according to the EU, CCM enjoyed the advantage of the incumbency, and a broad financial base which allowed it to carry out campaigns with an overwhelming visibility compared to other parties.
The mission condemned government threats against the media saying the move limited the freedom of expression.
"Generally, both the state owned and private media offered a broad coverage of the electoral process despite some biased reporting in favour of the ruling party," said EU chief observer.
Meanwhile, the Commonwealth Observer Group, in its preliminary report released yesterday, commended the peaceful campaign and the general election, although in some cases the ruling party enjoyed an advantage in coverage and overall exposure.
Chairperson of the Commonwealth Observer Group, Paul East noted that the process of compiling results has been slow in some areas partly due to the fact that officials were handling the system for the first time. In some areas, delays in releasing results have fueled tension, he said.
On its part, the Africa Union Observer Mission said NEC should ensure that the postponement of voting in the seven constituencies due to shortage of ballot papers, missing papers, names of candidates and printing errors, were dealt with promptly before the statutory date to allow the voting to be conducted in the respective constituencies.
The AU leader, Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah also pushed for the review of electoral laws, on the financial component, in order to allow great participation of all political parties and their agents in future elections.
Overall, he said, the election in Tanzania was conducted smoothly, but asked the NEC to "announce the results…there is no need of delaying voters who want to hear results of their candidates."
Source: The Guardian
Unveiling its preliminary election-observation report in Dar es Salaam yesterday, the mission said the campaign and general election in both Tanzania and Zanzibar went on peacefully despite reports of violence in some constituencies.
The EU Chief Observer, David Martin told reporters in a press conference yesterday that the mission will remain in the country to observe the aggregation process, announcement of the results and post- election developments.
He stressed that the mission stressed that it will give its final conclusion after the completion of the process including announcement of results and swearing-in of elected candidates.
"We are not going anywhere until all the election processes are completed," the EU Chief Observer said.
"We want to observe all the processes including swearing-in of elected candidates," he clarified.
After the processes, the EU mission will be in a better position to compile its final report which will be published between two and three months after the elections, he said.
The EU Chief Observer said the mission detected some weaknesses in the election such as insufficient financial resources, which barred some of the political parties from reaching many parts of the country.
In the Mainland, according to the EU, CCM enjoyed the advantage of the incumbency, and a broad financial base which allowed it to carry out campaigns with an overwhelming visibility compared to other parties.
The mission condemned government threats against the media saying the move limited the freedom of expression.
"Generally, both the state owned and private media offered a broad coverage of the electoral process despite some biased reporting in favour of the ruling party," said EU chief observer.
Meanwhile, the Commonwealth Observer Group, in its preliminary report released yesterday, commended the peaceful campaign and the general election, although in some cases the ruling party enjoyed an advantage in coverage and overall exposure.
Chairperson of the Commonwealth Observer Group, Paul East noted that the process of compiling results has been slow in some areas partly due to the fact that officials were handling the system for the first time. In some areas, delays in releasing results have fueled tension, he said.
On its part, the Africa Union Observer Mission said NEC should ensure that the postponement of voting in the seven constituencies due to shortage of ballot papers, missing papers, names of candidates and printing errors, were dealt with promptly before the statutory date to allow the voting to be conducted in the respective constituencies.
The AU leader, Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah also pushed for the review of electoral laws, on the financial component, in order to allow great participation of all political parties and their agents in future elections.
Overall, he said, the election in Tanzania was conducted smoothly, but asked the NEC to "announce the results…there is no need of delaying voters who want to hear results of their candidates."
Source: The Guardian
