Widespread fraud and harassment of opposition supporters, candidates, and observers are being reported through out Ethiopia in today’s parliamentary elections.
Ethiopian Review sources in Addis Ababa, Gonder, Gojjam, Tigray, Awassa, Ambo and other cities are reporting that Woyanne cadres and security agents are stealing votes in the open after chasing away observers. One observer described the scene in the town of Debere Markos as “day light robbery” of votes.
In Addis Ababa, trigger happy Federal Police have been observed detaining any one who makes complaints about voting related issues at polling stations. In Woreda 17, election monitors have observed unauthorized individuals inside voting rooms where only voter should have been allowed to enter.
In Adwa, where Meles Zenawi is competing against Medrek’s Aregash Adane, gross intimidation is being reported. Heading up to Sunday, Meles Zenawi’s supporters had disrupted a rally organized by Medrek where Aregash Adane appeared to speak. Meles’ supporters stoned Aregash’s car and chased her away.
In hundreds of districts through out the country, election observers were chased away by Woyanne gunmen, in some cases at gun point.
5 thoughts on “Massive irregularities reported in Ethiopia elections”
We cant expect anything different as we all know the true nature of WOYANE. The sad thing is our people has to suffer five more years under the tribal junta of MELES Chimpanzee.
Hmm… Intimidation,massive fraud, manouvering, stealing the people’s voices at gun point inorder to dictate, oppress and impoverish the same voters is expected.
Twenty long years of divide and rule dictatorship experiences need to teach us something but did we learn anything as to who is indirectly and partially strengthening the dictator?
I think that the opposion itself strengthens the dictator by being divided,weak and indicisive.
If the opposition is strongly united within its natural pluralistic diversities and challenge the dictatorial one party authoritarian system, wining would have just been like a dinner party.
But for now the opposition’s division and weaknesses provides easy winning for the dictatorship inorder to go and have five years of hedonistic dinner parties after dinner parties. These all by wearing expesive suits decorated with BEE LOGO and eating beef stakes and drinking Strong Bee honey wine at the Sheik Al Amoudi’s luxury hotel while the 80 million Ethiopians will be facing another usual starvations after starvations.
What an unfair world folks!
No country has ever, ever, ever been liberated from the comfort of a living room. And please do realize that your remote control could only operate your TV and/or your stereo system. Nothing more! Nothing less. If you are serious about liberating your ever-impoverished countrymen, however, you need to give up the comfort of DC life and go and fight the Woyanes in the wilderness of beautiful Ethiopia. Whether you like it or not, Woyane is never ready to give up the trophy, because you just hold some colorful demonstrations in the streets of DC, London and Brussels. What you are missing is the fact that freedom and liberty are never for SALE. They both are uniquely PRICELESS, and you OBVIOUSLY are not ready to sacrifice your mortgage, your Camry, Cellphone and sofa. Very many of you, that is all that you possess! How about taking a heed from your neighboring Eritrea. Whether you believe it or not again, it took them 30-years of warfare, hardship, hunger and blood and sometimes setbacks to win their freedom – All on their own! All on their terms! Period!
HT
#3 Haileselassie Tekle says:
You are RIGHT in one sense and WRONG in another sense.
1. You are absolutely RIGHT in stating the fact that Wayane will never ever give up power peacefully even to the end of the planet earth, say, out of its own free good will.
2.In my opinion again you are WRONG in claiming that this 21st century struggle particularly demands that all the Ethiopian diaspora, taht is to say, old and young, male and female must necessarily go back home and fight the dictatorship exclusively from near in the country.
My understading of modern struggle is in fact much more multidimensional and a little bit complex than your simplisitic one dimentional “all to the warfront” armed resistance by all.
Effective struggle incorporates political, finanacial, propaganda, organizational, armed, etc. inputs.
If you or any diaspora Ethiopian writes, phones home, send email mesaages home, contributes money, wages international and national agitations, conducts supportive demonistrations, encourages the domestically struggling groups and individuals morally, financially, knowledgewise, etc.that is also part of the mother of all struggles. That diaspora Ethiopians reside at a distance, make money through entrepreneurship and other working manners and channel funds for the one’s struggling at home is very much appreciated and NO one can underestimate its power.
You talk about Eritreans fighting with determination for about 30 years. Yes, they were fighting but you seem to forget the fact that all Eritreans were not in the forest conducting direct armed struggle deep down in the jungles and mountains of Eritrea. They were not so stupid.
Lots of Eritreans were all over the world, some working and earning salaries, some engaging in small own business operations, while other were even operating big business. Their common factor is financially supporting the struggle and advancing its set objectives. You can’t do much with out money.
But of course often times even the then eritrean diaspora youth were voluntarily joining the armed struggle according to fluctuating needs on the ground whenever human resources seem to be scarce in that segment.
And then again Eritrea was not alone in the fighting all by itself in isolation as you claim. Very powerful and less powerful world powers were eagely supporting in an all round ways. Examples were the Chines, the Soviet Union,Cuba,some East European states, some Nordic states, etc. at least during the Haile Selassie era, but during Mengistu then the USA and all the western countries.
So please update your facts, otherwise you are asking for the isolation of the struggle which is only good for dictator Wayane.
Here I am talking about Eritrea, a nation of under 5 million people with relative human resource scarcity.
But with Ethiopia of some 80 million population I think the availability and capacity of the domestic fighting force for peace and freedom is even enough for many other countries let alone Ethiopia. After all, Ethiopia posseses the third largest population in the whole of Africa.
Hence and to a large extent the problem is in fact in the division and weakness of the opposition who couln’t put up a coherent and solid unity within diversity and effectively mobilize the national and international public human and financial resources in a credible and viable manner of offering alternative political/military opposition. Araat nexxib :: :)
You know, everyone including the so called opposition leaders have been crying for over a year now that this is a FAKE ELECTION, that the ruling party has recruited over 70K cadres to intimidate and rig this election, that EPRDF is monopolizing the air waves, that voter intimidation including severe beatings and killing is rampant; nevertheless they decided to try their luck at winning a fat parliamentarian salary, a public subsidized apartment in the capital and ‘Yetekeberu’ prefix before their names and they LOST.
Now what? Blame the EU/US for accepting a marred election that they willingly participated, in the hope they could secure membership in a TPLF rubberstamp parliament? They have been told time and again: PLEASE DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN THIS ALREADY RIGGED ELECTION, that it does nothing for the cause of democracy in Ethiopia other than legitimize the election and embolden Meles. Gizachew Shiferaw was deaf to the pleadings of a majority of his own ANDNET members at home and supporters here in the Diaspora. He thought he could sacrifice Bertukan towards his own elevation to power and people will not notice and he was dead wrong. Now that the gamblers have lost, it is crying time all over again. Cry Me a River!
With Respect,
-Surafel