Violence erupted on the tourist idyll island of Zanzibar yesterday in the wake of Sunday's hotly contested but chaotic elections, which international observers described as a shambles.
Police in riot gear attacked about 200 supporters of the Civic United Front (CUF) opposition party with truncheons, tear gas and live ammunition after their leader called for fresh elections on Zanzibar and other islands off the coast of Tanzania. About 20 men were arrested but no fatalities were reported.
The incident marred early celebrations for President Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania, who looked likely to win a comfortable victory on the mainland yesterday evening. Early results saw him take six of the seven seats in the capital, Dar es Salaam, and half the seats in the northern town of Moshi.
However, his ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party faced stiff opposition on Zanzibar, which united with mainland Tanganyika to form Tanzania in 1964 and enjoys limited autonomy. The CUF had promised islanders, who feel neglected by the mainland government, even greater autonomy.
However, massive electoral irregularities prompted authorities to annul the vote in almost one third of constituencies. Ballot papers arrived hours late in some areas and many people were unable to vote.
A claim by the CUF leader, Mr Seif Sharif Hamad, that the CCM had manipulated the election to avoid defeat was bolstered by a statement from Commonwealth observers. The poll showed "colossal contempt for ordinary Zanzibari people and their aspirations for democracy", they said. "The elections should be held again in their entirety," said Mr Gaositwe Chiepe, chairman of the observer group.
Zanzibar's first multi-party elections in 1995 were also marred by violence after the CCM won by a wafer-thin margin amid similar fraud charges. President Salim Amour of Zanzibar later imprisoned opposition activists on what human rights groups described as trumped-up charges, causing the EU to withdraw aid to the islands.
Tourists have been leaving the picturesque islands, once notorious for their slave trade, as the tension escalated. The US has made arrangements for an emergency evacuation of its citizens.
The strife is expected to delay the inauguration of Mr Mkapa as President next weekend. Mr Mkapa succeeded the national father figure, Julius Nyerere, who died last year, and has won Western support for his stringent economic reforms for one of the poorest countries in the world.