Be calm as we seek way out of impasse, says Seif

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CUF Secretary General Seif Shariff Hamad yesterday asked zanzibaris to remain calm as their leaders are striving to find a solution to Zanzibar’s political impasse. Mr Hamad, who contested the presidency and claimed to have won Zanzibar’s October 25, 2015 presidential polls made the appeal at the Bwawani Hotel in Unguja.

Zanzibar. CUF Secretary General Seif Shariff Hamad yesterday asked zanzibaris to remain calm as their leaders are striving to find a solution to Zanzibar’s political impasse. Mr Hamad, who contested the presidency and claimed to have won Zanzibar’s October 25, 2015 presidential polls made the appeal at the Bwawani Hotel in Unguja.

The CUF Secretary General gave the advice in remarks to curtain-raise a Maulid function organized by his family and attended by Zanzibar’s retired president Dr Amani Abeid Karume, former CUF national chairman Prof Ibrahim Lipumba, Maalim Seif’s adviser, Mansour Yussuf Himid, and Zanzibar’s Chief Mufti, Sheikh Saleh Omar Kabi.

He said Zanzibar was currently in a political impasse, but efforts were still on to resolve it. “I call upon you to remain calm during this period when our country is facing political impasse because I believe that through God’s WILL, it will be solved,” he remarked, adding: “I assure you efforts are still being made to solve the problem; don’t be confused by some people who are bent on demoralizing you, we are making every effort to get out of the situation in the interests of all of us and the whole nation.” Maalim Seif’s statement comes one day after Dr Ali Mohamed Shein said he was still the President of Zanzibar and Chairman of the Revolutionary Council in accordance with Zanzibar’s Constitution.