Ethiopia’s ruling party junta called a rally in the capital Tuesday to celebrate its victory theft in national elections, but a U.S. rights group claimed the weekend ballot was corrupted by irregularities.
Hundreds of blue-uniformed federal police death squads stood guard as supporters of the ruling party gathered in the city’s central parade grounds. Workers had constructed a platform overlooking the grounds, and were installing a glass box _ possibly made of bulletproof glass for an important person. It was not known whether Prime Minister genocidal dictator Meles Zenawi would speak at the rally.
The European Union mission said it would release a report on the election Tuesday. The EU mission said it that, while Sunday’s vote had been peaceful, it had received reports of irregularities, both of a technical nature and from opposition candidates.
At the rally, an announcer read out slogans from signs held up by government supporters criticizing foreign rights groups that had questioned the election’s validity. Some of the signs read: “We chose our leaders, accept the results” and “Stop second guessing us.”
The rally was called as provisional returns showed a victory for the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front and its allies. The tallies showed the EPRDF and its allies ahead in the nine regions that have reported results, out of a total of 11.
“As far as the provisional result is concerned, the EPRDF has winned,” board chairman Merga Bekana said Monday.
Final results will be announced in late June, officials have said.
Sunday’s vote had been closely watched by international observers after the contentious 2005 election, in which the opposition won an unprecedented number of parliamentary seats only to endure police crackdowns and the killing of 193 demonstrators after the votes were counted.
Neither opposition leaders nor ruling party officials could be reached immediately for comment on the results announced Monday. The opposition had complained previously of vote-rigging and intimidation on election day.
The election board chairman also said the ruling party had won 20 of the capital’s 23 parliamentary seats, with only two left to report results in Addis Ababa. There are 546 assembly seats in all.
New York-based Human Rights Watch criticized Sunday’s vote as corrupted by pre-election irregularities, including telling voters they could lose food assistance, public-sector jobs, loans and educational opportunities if they voted against the ruling party.
“Behind an orderly facade, the government pressured, intimidated and threatened Ethiopian voters,” said Rona Peligal, acting Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Whatever the results, the most salient feature of this election was the months of repression preceding it.”
Merga read out the results in English, barely pausing as he rattled off party acronyms and large figures, in a televised news conference.
“The process is very transparent, free, fair and peaceful,” he said, noting the results were also available on the election board’s website. Few people in Ethiopia have computers or TV sets.
Ethiopian election officials said they witnessed no irregularities, and government spokesman Bereket Simon said the election was free and fair.
“It is sad to hear that while the election officials have said Ethiopians voted in a democratic way, Human Rights Watch, which has nothing to do with the election observation, is declaring our election fraudulent,” he said. “The people of Ethiopia have voted, and no one is going to take their vote away from them.”
Merga refused to say how many votes the ruling party received across the board, but an Associated Press calculation shows the ruling party won at least 6.7 million votes in the nine regions reporting. Merga said more than 90 percent of the 32 million registered voters _ some 29 million people _ cast ballots nationwide.
Analysts had predicted an easy win for the ruling party, led by Meles, a U.S. ally now poised to get five more years of power after he seized control in a 1991 coup.
Since the violent elections in 2005, the opposition and some analysts say the government has systematically stifled the competition while limiting the media and restricting aid groups from working on human rights issues.
Ethiopia is frequently criticized for its human rights record, including by the U.S. State Department, which in a March report cited reports of “unlawful killings, torture, beating, abuse and mistreatment of detainees and opposition supporters by security forces, often acting with evident impunity.”
Still, the U.S. considers Ethiopia an ally and provides billions of dollars in foreign aid. Both countries want to curb Islamist extremism in Somalia, Ethiopia’s unstable neighbor to the east.
(The Associated Press)
2 thoughts on “European Union mission to issue Ethiopia election report Tuesday”
It is surprising that the international community expect the most repressive regime to conduct fair and free election. It is also most astonishing that the EU and African Union have sent some observers to monitor the way this election is being conducted. I bet that Meles would not hesitate to denounce these observes if they come out with any form of condemnations. This man has been emboldened by the silence of the international community. In particular the United State of America and the United Kingdom government that have bankrolled many futile projects that fail to benefit the people they were intended to but the regimes cronies and political cadres. Anyone anticipating that the Meles’s regime would hold a reasonable election in Ethiopia is out of touch with reality that is happening completely secretive regime. This man has made, as just other dictators in the world have done before, such as Kim IL Sung, the North Korean most elusive leader, Robert Mugabe, to keep power despite whatever happens in the poll. He has made sure that no independent and impartial election commission or independent judiciary exist in Ethiopia. Anyone who dares to oppose his rule systematically terminated by means of different mechanism he has made sure work in Ethiopia.
Although Meles is saying that he would resign after five years, there is no any evidence that show he would do this in practice. I have no doubt that he would not hesitate to install his own close ally or his blood relative, such as his son, daughter, brother, sister if he want to remain free and protected, after the end of this de facto term in order to avoid any uncertainty in the future against his life. This prediction is reached based on the past experience of this regime.
Meles has succeeded in conning the international community by convincing them that he is the only man that has the will and the power to contain the spread of Islamic fundamentalism in the neighbouring Somalia. Thank to the Bush and Tony Blair’s now widely discredited joint venture Meles is turning into a hero/ defender of western countries’, that have just start to afraid of their shadow, or obsessed with the ghost of dark Islamic fundamentalism hell-bent in destroying the west, interest domestically and internationally.
The most disturbing news is that Meles has realised that the dark ghost of Islamic fundamentalism has big profit to his bid to stay in power. He has in the last two decades kept secreted contact with people behind both these uprising in Somalia. The existences of Islamic insurgency as well as the operation of pirates off the coast of Somalia are the bloodlines for his existence and a saleable story of the western countries appetite. Conning has always been the tactic melees used to ascend to power by eliminating his rivals to power. This most elusive regime must be stopped. The world has to be awakened and told the true colour of this man before he has done the damage.
Berhanu Nega has already told you that there will never be a democratic election again under TPLF. Why are you all now shouting as if something unexpected happened? Look how the country is terrorized by tplf- the opposition cannot even say the election was stolen! Wow they are in an incredible fear!