AbstractsPolitical Science

International pressure and Zanzibar political development has been the focus of this thesis. The current question has been whether aid conditionality imposed on Zanzibar after the 1995 general elections has exacerbated political tensions on the islands. This involved the discussion of several connected issues. It was first consider whether the connection between aid and political conditionality could help to solve political tension and finally lead to a democratic society with respect of human rights and the rule by law. Theoretical, human rights and democracy situation may improve, worsen or remain unchanged independently of the conditionality imposed. During the last few years the linkage between political conditionality and development assistance has become widely accepted and entered bilateral and multilateral aid policies among a number of donors. The assumption is that this new policy of aid conditionality is controversial, both within donors and recipient countries. Although aid conditionality may improve aid efficiency in some cases, the hypothesis here is that it has contributed negatively to Zanzibar situation in terms of respect for human rights and in bringing the opposition parties into dialogue. An overall proposition is that the probability for a successful outcome from the donors' perspective needs to consider the specific content of the particular case. A framework for analysing aid relations was provided by the so-called linkage diplomacy, that is, attention in this study has been given to the linkage between conditionality imposed on Zanzibar and political development. In aid terminology, linkage diplomacy has been defined as negative conditionality. Even though asymmetrical relationship has been determined as one of the favourable condition for effectiveness of aid conditionality, it may not necessarily lead to political change, as the situation in Zanzibar over the past few years has demonstrated. In other words, the effectiveness of political conditionality depends on the combined effects of internal and external structural and political variables. Tanzania held its first multiparty elections in October 1995. While the elections in Tanzania mainland were characterised as free and fair, elections in Zanzibar were condemned by the opposition parties as well as a large part of the donor community. After the election, the total impasse developed over the disputed Zanzibar elections. Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) won over the opposition, Civil United Front (CUF) in the presidential race with the narrowest margin of 0.4%. The veracity of results for Zanzibar presidential election was in serious doubt after numerous reports of significant discrepancies. Since then Zanzibar has been the subject of much international discussion and of diplomatic isolation by the Western donor community. Among the serious complaints made about the elections and the developments after the elections have been the lack of transparency on the counting of the ballot, harassment of the political opponents, in particular…