Zanzibar President Dr. Hussein Mwinyi will not seek to extend presidential terms in his country, the government said Monday, dismissing calls for the leader to extend his term from five to seven years.
A statement for the Directorate of Presidential Communications said prolonging his terms of office is unconstitutional.
Dr. Mwinyi "is a believer of democratic governance.
He will observe the constitutional terms and the laws of the country," Charles Hillary, the Director of Presidential Communications said in a public statement.
The statement further moved to quash calls to cancel the planned next year's general election, stressing: "the President will respect the established procedure of holding presidential elections in the country."
The president's office urged those with different opinions to suspend such debates as it is uncalled for.
Dr. Mwinyi's statement comes just a day after CCM-Zanzibar's deputy secretary, Mohamed Said Mohamed-Dimwa, announced at the closing of the UVCCM district executive council meeting in Dimani that the Secretariat Members of the Special Committee of the CCM National Executive Committee (NEC) have endorsed a proposal to extend President Mwinyi's term to seven years from the current five-year term.
