Dr. Salim has a discussion with Jenerali who asked about developments in Burundi and what the OAU has been doing as well as the proposed mission of Foreign Ministers to Burundi scheduled for early April 1995. However, the discussion quickly turned to domestic politics and the presidential elections and how there was a perception that Dr. Salim is seemingly out of touch of the domestic situation given his position on the matter was not clear.
"I told Jenerali Ulimwengu as follows: My position remains as that adumbrated while I was in Zanzibar. I am not a candidate. In any case, the question as to who should be a candidate will be properly determined by the Political Parties in the country. I have a role here in Addis Ababa as Secretary-General of the OAU. But this position should in no way be misconstrued as lack of interest on my part over developments in Tanzania. I follow events at home very closely. My main interest is to see that the country continues on the path of stability, understanding and security. I am only too conscious that Tanzania's stability is crucial for my own role as Secretary-General of the OAU. I am not a candidate. But I am also conscious of the fact that I have over the years played a role in national politics. So while I am not a candidate, I believe that neither Tanzanians nor Africans elsewhere will understand, were I to say that under no circumstances will I consider to play a role in the country should such a situation be an overwhelming desire on the part of Tanzanians. (The next day when I spoke to Rahma, she told me that RAI had a front page Headline : SAILM IS NOT A CANDIDATE DATE BUT. . ." - Dr. Salim, March 29, 1995
