ወደሽ ከተደፋሽ ቢረግጡሽ አይክፋሽ::

PRESS RELEASE
by sellout members of UEDF, CUDP and OFDM who joined the Woyanne rubber stamp parliament

A seemingly biased approach to Local Elections, 2008

On October 16, 2007, the National Election Board (NEB) invited all the Political Parties in the country and informed them that Local Elections would be held early next year (2008), although Election activities begin already in October this year. There were registered and recognized Political Parties attending the Meeting.

The NEB distributed a schedule of Election events beginning on October 22 and ending on Election Day, which will be March 2, 2008. Opposition Parties who attended the Meeting raised many thorny questions which were of common concern to all of them. All Parties were overwhelmed by the myriad of events packed into the short period of October to February.

At the end of the Meeting, the NEB agreed that Political Parties review the Schedule and submit their comments to them within five days.

It is to be recalled that although Local Elections are one year behind schedule, according to the Election Law, we did agree with the Ruling Party in May 2007, that Local Elections be held between December 2007 and February 2008, on condition that:

1. Opposition Party local offices are opened and that all Political Parties be allowed to conduct political activities, unimpeded;

2. The harassment of Party members and supporters cease forthwith;

3. Public mass media be accessible to all Political parties in an equitable manner and the freedom of the independent press be guaranteed;

4. Decision on Political Party financing by the Government, as provided for in the Party Law, be made so that legally-registered Political Parties will be able to engage in meaningful political activities in their constituencies, and also avoid unhealthy dependency on external sources of finance from elements that may have political agendas non-compatible with the political realities of Ethiopia;

5. The administrative structure of the NEB be put in place, both at the Head Office and the Regions, with competent professionals, following the established procedures in force, to recruit and employ civil servants, as stipulated in the newly-amended Electoral Law;

6. Matters relating to Election Observers be clarified and appropriate preparations are made.

However, since then, our members and supporters have been harassed continuously. Many of them have been imprisoned for prolonged periods of time and many more have been thrown into jail.

Our local Party offices have been closed and vandalized. Landlords have been prevented from renting office space to the Opposition. In one case, a donor wanted to buy office space for one of the Parties, and local Government officials intimidated the seller and refused to register the sale.

Political Party leadership, Party members and activists are invariably obstructed from making public interactions with their constituents. Even when, on rare occasions, our party functionaries are tolerated to move around among the public, they feel insecure because even the police themselves display visible hostility to the Opposition.

Lack of funds has seriously affected our capacities to be effective as Political Parties. The Government continues to refuse to grant funds to Political Parties, thus, acting arbitrarily and contrary to the practice of many governments. Funding opposition parties by governments, including those of developed countries, is almost universal. Without funds from public treasury, political parties in developing countries would be politically incapacitated.

Without access to any kind of media, the Opposition has been virtually separated from the electorate, while the Ruling Party uses public media monopolistically everyday.

As a matter of principle, Ethiopian Elections must be observable. Hence, both local and foreign Election Observers should, as a matter of practice, be welcome to observe Ethiopian Elections whether Local or National. While the Government always has the right to grant or deny entry visa to any foreign visitor, foreigners who qualify should be allowed to observe Ethiopian Elections as a matter of practice.

Therefore, it is our strong conviction that as a confidence building measure in the electoral process, and hence to make the outcome of the elections agreeable to all competing parties, the upcoming Local Elections must be observed by experienced, competent and independent local as well as foreign observers.

It is our considered judgment that an independent observation of the upcoming Local Elections would avoid the eruption of prolonged rancor that had marred past elections.

Therefore, before finalizing the 2008 Draft Election Schedule, we propose that the outstanding issues indicated above and other matters relating to the upcoming Local Elections be resolved through Inter-Party negotiations and talks with the Government.

Sellout members of the
United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF)
Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUDP)
Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM)

Addis Abeba