Written question asked by John Bercow (Conservative) on Monday, 7 November 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 9 November 2005. It was answered by Ian Pearson (Labour) on Tuesday, 15 November 2005 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Tanzania

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of whether the recent elections in Zanzibar were free and fair.

Answer: We welcome the third multi-party election on 30 October in Zanzibar.Representatives from the British High Commission followed the electoral process closely and we noted the broad assessment by international observer groups that the electoral process was a marked improvement on past polls, and that it was generally administered in an efficient manner.Nevertheless, there were instances, particularly on Unguja, where there were irregularities and a lack of transparency. A number of observer groups have called for a thorough investigation of these anomalies. The UK supports this call.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 26772; 439 c1186W;439 c1186W
Session: 2005-06
Related items: Zanzibar
Thursday, 17 November 2005
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects: Elections Standards Tanzania
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk