Brussels, 03/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - Catherine Ashton, the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy and vice president of the European Commission, has welcomed the peaceful conduct of general elections on 31 October in Tanzania and Zanzibar.
In a declaration published on Tuesday 2 November, the high representative congratulated “the people and the authorities for their contribution to this process”. She was particularly delighted with “the positive atmosphere and very high voter turnout in Zanzibar, where political parties have aligned around the creation of a Government of National Unity”. Ashton thanked the chief observer of the EU election observation mission, David Martin MEP, and his team for an excellent job. The introductory declaration of the election observation mission, published the same day in Dar es Salam, explained that the election was peaceful and generally calm but pointed out that there had been a lack of transparency during key stages of the electoral process. (A.N./transl.fl)