Seif Shariff Hamad

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Seif Shariff Hamad (b. 22 October 1943) is a Zanzibari politician. He is currently the secretary-general of the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) party.

Hamad served as Chief Minister of Zanzibar from 6 February 1984 to 22 January 1988. Soon after his dismissal, he was expelled from the sole legal party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), after disputes with party officials.

When Tanzania adopted a multiparty political system in 1992, Hamad along with other former CCM members founded the Civic United Front party. The first multiparty elections took place in 1995 and Hamad was the CUF's candidate for the Presidency of Zanzibar. He was narrowly defeated by CCM candidate Salmin Amour, winning 49.76% of the vote to Amour's 50.24%. Observers noted serious irregularities in the poll and the CUF rejected the result as rigged.

Hamad was again defeated in the 2000 elections by CCM candidate Amani Abeid Karume. He received 32.96% of the vote to Karume's 67.04%. Observers condemned the poll citing widespread irregularities and instances of intimidation of opposition supporters by the security forces. The Commonwealth team described the election as a 'shambles'.

In 2001, the ruling CCM party and opposition CUF signed a peace agreement designed to ensure electoral and constitutional reform. Most of the planned reforms were not implemented by the government, including, crucially, an agreed voter's register prior to the elections of October 2005

In the 30 October 2005 election, according to official results, Hamad was again defeated by Amani Abeid Karume, winning 46.07% of the vote to Karume's 53.18%. CUF disputed the election and refused to recognise Karume as President. International observers, such as the Commonwealth, and National Democratic Institute again noted serious concerns with the fairness of the poll, and the United States boycotted the swearing-in ceremony of Abeid Karume as President.

The union elections in December 2005 followed a similar pattern on Zanzibar with CUF carrying Pemba but not Unguja.