Beyond Polarity in Zanzibar? The ‘Silent’ Referendum and the Government of National Unity

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dc.contributor.authorBakari, Mohammed
dc.contributor.authorMakulilo, Alexander B.
dc.date.accessioned2016-05-09T20:09:19Z
dc.date.available2016-05-09T20:09:19Z
dc.date.issued2012
dc.descriptionFull text can be accessed at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02589001.2012.669565en_US
dc.description.abstractOn 31 July 2010 the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar held a referendum to decide on the government of national unity so as to end the impasse between the two main political camps, each dominating one of the two islands of Unguja and Pemba. The outcome of the referendum was that the majority of Zanzibaris voted in favour of the government of national unity. This article revisits how the referendum was carried out in terms of observing the basic principles of a democratic referendum and whether the referendum would be a panacea for the polarisation between the two islands. The main argument held here is that the referendum fell short of observing some of the basic principles of a democratic referendum since it systematically suppressed the voices of those who opted for a ‘No’ vote. Besides this, the government of national unity created after the referendum was in essence the unity of the two major political parties, namely the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and the Civic United Front (CUF). Relatedly, some of the fundamental issues causing polarisation are yet to be tackled, a situation which, if not addressed in time, would make this polarity a likely facet of Zanzibar’s future politics.en_US
dc.identifier.citationBakari, M. and Makulilo, A., 2012. Beyond polarity in Zanzibar? The ‘silent’referendum and the government of national unity. Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 30(2), pp.195-218.en_US
dc.identifier.doi10.1080/02589001.2012.669565
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11810/1920
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherTaylor and Francisen_US
dc.subjectZanzibaren_US
dc.subjectReferendumen_US
dc.subjectGovernment of national unityen_US
dc.subjectCCMen_US
dc.subjectCUFen_US
dc.titleBeyond Polarity in Zanzibar? The ‘Silent’ Referendum and the Government of National Unityen_US
dc.typeJournal Articleen_US
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