Editing Zanzibar (section)

== Government ==
{{Politics of Tanzania}}
As an autonomous part of [[Tanzania]], Zanzibar has its own government, known as the [[Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar]]. It is made up of the [[Revolutionary Council (Zanzibar)|Revolutionary Council]] and [[House of Representatives of Zanzibar|House of Representatives]].
The House of Representatives has a similar composition to the [[National Assembly of Tanzania]]. Fifty members are elected directly from constituencies to serve five-year terms; 10 members are appointed by the [[President of Zanzibar]]; 15 special seats are for women members of political parties that have representation in the House of Representatives; six members serve ''[[ex officio member|ex officio]]'', including all regional commissioners and the attorney general.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zanzibarassembly.go.tz/composition.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013220315/https://www.zanzibarassembly.go.tz/composition.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 October 2023 |title=Composition |publisher=The House of Representatives – Zanzibar |access-date=23 October 2012}}</ref> Five of these 81 members are then elected to represent Zanzibar in the National Assembly.<ref>[http://www.parliament.go.tz/index.php/home/pages/6 Composition, Parliament of Tanzania] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151021211837/http://www.parliament.go.tz/index.php/home/pages/6 |date=21 October 2015 }}</ref>

Zanzibar spans 5 of the 31 [[regions of Tanzania]]. Unguja has three administrative regions: [[Zanzibar Central/South]], [[Zanzibar North]] and [[Zanzibar Urban/West]]. Pemba has two: [[Pemba North]] and [[Pemba South]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.statoids.com/utz.html |title=Tanzania Regions |website=www.statoids.com |access-date=12 March 2018 |archive-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225065231/http://www.statoids.com/utz.html%20 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Concerning the independence and sovereignty of Zanzibar, Tanzania Prime Minister [[Mizengo Pinda]] said on 3 July 2008 that there was "nothing like the sovereignty of Zanzibar in the Union Government unless the Constitution is changed in future". Zanzibar House of Representatives members from both the ruling party, [[Chama Cha Mapinduzi]], and the opposition party, [[Civic United Front]], disagreed and stood firmly in recognizing Zanzibar as a fully autonomous state.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unpo.org/article/8392 |title=Zanzibar: Premier under fire on Zanzibar status |date=10 July 2008 |publisher=Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization |access-date=23 October 2012 |archive-date=3 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303021026/http://www.unpo.org/article/8392 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Politics ===
{{see also|Zanzibar independence movement}}
[[File:12 Jan. 2004, festivities at 40th anniversary of the Zanzibar Revolution. President Karume enters Amani Stadium in ceremonial Hummer.JPG|thumb|left|12 January 2004: President Karume of Zanzibar enters Amani Stadium for the celebration of the 40th anniversary of Zanzibar's 1964 revolution.]]

Zanzibar has a government of national unity, with the president of Zanzibar being [[Hussein Ali Mwinyi]], since 1 November 2020. There are many political parties in Zanzibar, but the most popular parties are the [[Chama Cha Mapinduzi]] (CCM) and the [[Civic United Front]] (CUF). Since the early 1990s, the politics of the archipelago have been marked by repeated clashes between these two parties.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Throup |first=David W. |date=18 March 2016 |title=The Political Crisis in Zanzibar |url=https://www.csis.org/analysis/political-crisis-zanzibar |access-date=23 March 2024 |website=[[Center for strategic and international studies]]}}</ref>

Contested elections in October 2000 led to a massacre on 27 January 2001 when, according to [[Human Rights Watch]], the army and police shot into crowds of protestors, killing at least 35 and wounding more than 600. Those forces, accompanied by ruling party officials and militias, also went on a house-to-house rampage, indiscriminately arresting, beating, and sexually abusing residents. Approximately 2,000 temporarily fled to Kenya.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2002/04/10/tanzan3838.htm |title=Tanzania: Zanzibar Election Massacres Documented |publisher=Human Rights Watch |date=10 April 2002 |access-date=27 August 2010 |archive-date=20 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081020214543/http://hrw.org/english/docs/2002/04/10/tanzan3838.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Violence erupted again after [[Tanzanian general election, 2005|another contested election]] on 31 October 2005, with the CUF claiming that its rightful victory had been stolen from it. Nine people were killed.<ref>[http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2002597738_webzanzibar01.html "Nine killed in Zanzibar election violence", ''The Seattle Times'', reported by Chris Tomlinson, The Associated Press, 1 November 2005] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006165946/http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2002597738_webzanzibar01.html |date=6 October 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.karelprinsloo.com/#/works/zanzibar-election-violence-2005?i=386 |title=Zimbabwe Farm Evictions 2000 |website=karelprinsloo karel prinsloo |access-date=23 October 2012 |archive-date=4 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104135609/http://www.karelprinsloo.com/#/works/zanzibar-election-violence-2005?i=386 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Following 2005, negotiations between the two parties aiming at the long-term resolution of the tensions and a power-sharing accord took place, but they suffered repeated setbacks. The most notable of these took place in April 2008, when the CUF walked away from the negotiating table following a CCM call for a referendum to approve of what had been presented as a done deal on the power-sharing agreement.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tzaffairs.org/2008/05/zanzibar-a-big-disappointment |title=Tanzanian Affairs » ZANZIBAR – A BIG DISAPPOINTMENT |website=www.tzaffairs.org |date=May 2008 |access-date=12 March 2018 |archive-date=6 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006012831/https://www.tzaffairs.org/2008/05/zanzibar-a-big-disappointment/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In November 2009, the then-president of Zanzibar, [[Amani Abeid Karume]], met with CUF secretary-general [[Seif Sharif Hamad]] at the State House to discuss how to save Zanzibar from future political turmoil and to end the animosity between them.<ref name="Karume">{{cite web |url=http://zirppo.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/karume-no-elections-next-year-in-zanzibar-if |title="Karume: No elections next year in Zanzibar if…", Zanzibar Institute for Research and Public Policy, reported by Salma Said, reprinted from an original article in ''The Citizen'', 19 November 2009 |date=19 November 2009 |access-date=23 October 2012 |archive-date=17 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017215755/http://zirppo.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/karume-no-elections-next-year-in-zanzibar-if/ |url-status=live }}</ref> This move was welcomed by many, including the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://zanzibar-tanzania.usvpp.gov/ |title=Welcome to VPP Zanzibar, Tanzania |work=United States Virtual Presence Post |publisher=[[U.S. Department of State]] |access-date=27 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110203094450/http://zanzibar-tanzania.usvpp.gov/ |archive-date=3 February 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> It was the first time since the [[multi-party system]] was introduced in Zanzibar that the CUF agreed to recognize Karume as the legitimate president of Zanzibar.<ref name="Karume"/>

A proposal to amend Zanzibar's constitution to allow rival parties to form governments of national unity was adopted by 66.2 percent of voters on 31 July 2010.<ref>[http://www.eisa.org.za/WEP/zan2010referendum.htm "Zanzibar: 2010 Constitutional referendum results"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105050420/https://eisa.org.za/wep/zan2010referendum.htm |date=5 January 2016 }}, Electoral Institute for the Sustainability of Democracy in Africa, updated August 2010.</ref>

The autonomous status of Zanzibar is viewed as comparable to [[Hong Kong]] as suggested by some scholars, and with some recognizing the island as an "African Hong Kong".<ref>Simon Shen, ''One country, two systems: Zanzibar'', Ming Pao Weekly, Sep 2016.</ref>

Nowadays, [[Alliance for Change and Transparency|The Alliance for Change and Transparency-Wazalendois]] (ACT-Wazalendo) is considered the main opposition political party of semi-autonomous Zanzibar. The constitution of Zanzibar requires the party that comes in second in the polls to join a coalition with the winning party. ACT-Wazalendo joined a coalition government with the islands' ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi in December 2020 after Zanzibar disputed [[2020 Zanzibari general election|elections]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://apnews.com/article/constitutions-tanzania-elections-africa-dar-es-salaam-316350ec78b5299743309ebca78ba889 |title=Zanzibar's opposition party to join coalition government |website=[[Associated Press]] |date=6 December 2020 |access-date=16 March 2021 |archive-date=17 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417204403/https://apnews.com/article/constitutions-tanzania-elections-africa-dar-es-salaam-316350ec78b5299743309ebca78ba889 |url-status=live }}</ref>