Two political parties contesting in Ethiopia’s May 15 national elections have been making effective use of mobile phone short message service to campaign.
The ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) have been campaigning via mobile short message service (SMS), calling people to vote for them.
Some residents in Addis Ababa said that the short messages request receivers to forward it to up to 10 other mobile users.
The ERPDF message reads, “Hi! I am confident enough that you love Ethiopia. No doubt, the future is too bright. Vote for EPRDF. Please send this message for 10 supporters of the party.”
On the other hand, CUD’s campaign message reads, “The moment of truth has come, vote for Kinijit (Coalition). Freedom is on the way. Ride with Kinijit.”
Another CUD message also reads, “Vote Kinijit. I know you love Ethiopia. Pass this message for at least five Ethiopians who love their country.”
Some residents of the capital appreciated the use of modern technology for the purpose of election campaigning.
Over 25.6 million Ethiopians are eligible to cast ballots in the upcoming elections to elect a national parliament and eight regional assemblies. The newly elected federal lawmakers will then select a prime minister.
There are 1,845 candidates representing 36 political parties and independents running for the 480 seats up for grabs in the 547- member federal parliament.
The remaining 67 MPs, who represent Ethiopia’s eastern Somalia Regional State, will be chosen in elections in August.
The national elections will be only the third democratic ballot in Ethiopia. The previous elections have been won by the ruling party.
Ethiopia has a two-house parliament: the 110-seat upper House of the Federation and the 547-seat lower House of People’s Representatives.
Ethiopia says it had every right to expel three U.S.-funded democracy groups from the country late last month, because the groups were not in compliance with the law. The response comes as two of the groups, in a letter to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, questioned the credibility and transparency of next month’s parliamentary elections.
A spokesman for the Ethiopian Information Ministry, Zemedkun Tekle, says as far as the government is concerned, it acted within the law when it expelled the three American organizations on March 30.
“The reason of their expulsion is that they had not registered legally to monitor these elections,” he says.
The three groups, National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute, and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, had been in Ethiopia since January to assist in preparing for May 15 elections.
The groups are funded by the United States to promote democracy and good governance around the world.
All three groups have acknowledged that they were not registered with the Ethiopian government at the time of the expulsions. But they say that the government failed to respond to requests for the necessary accreditations, even though they applied for them back in January.
The Bush administration says that other non-governmental groups working in Ethiopia on the elections were also not able to register.
On Friday, the chairwoman of the National Democratic Institute, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and the chairman of the International Republican Institute, Senator John McCain, sent a letter of complaint to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, whose ruling party faces tough competition at the polls.
The letter expressed deep concern about the expulsions, noting that no other government in the world had ever expelled the groups before. The letter warned that the move would reflect negatively on the Ethiopian government’s promise to hold open and democratic elections.
Ms. Albright and Senator McCain asked the Ethiopian leader to reconsider and allow the three groups to resume their work in Ethiopia.
Parliamentary polls in May will mark the third time Ethiopia has held elections since Prime Minister Meles took power in a military coup in 1991. But this is the first time they are taking place amid international scrutiny.
Fifty two election observers from the European Union arrived in the capital, Addis Ababa, on Friday to prepare the way for a larger team of more than 100 EU observers.
But opposition leaders, who accuse the government of not providing a level playing field in the elections, say the number of observers is not nearly enough to monitor voting in 38,000 polling stations across the country.
Prime Minister Meles’ Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front Party has won previous elections by overwhelming margins. The ruling party and its allies currently hold 519 of 548 seats in the federal parliament.
U.S. Senator John McCain and Hon. Madeleine Albright
Washington, DC
April 14, 2005
A joint press release from the National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute
Prime Minister of Ethiopia
Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Your Excellency:
We write to express our concern and dismay over the recent expulsion from Ethiopia of representatives of the International Republican Institute (IRI), IFES, and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) by your government. With support from USAID, the three organizations sought to assist the democratic process and preparations for your May 15 general elections. These organizations carry out nonpartisan programs and support a democratic environment in which the integrity of the election process can be ensured and all parties understand their rights and responsibilities.
IRI, IFES, and NDI were coordinating with the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia to support the work of the election commission, dialogue among political parties and election authorities as a means of enhancing confidence and participation in the electoral process, political party pollwatching, and the creation of a code of conduct for the elections. All three organizations have been making good faith efforts to gain registration in accordance with
established laws and procedures and were assured by representatives of your government that their registration would be approved expeditiously.
In over 20 years of working around the world, until now no government has expelled NDI, IRI, and IFES. We are particularly perplexed by these expulsions at a time when your government has stated its intention to organize an open and democratic election process. This action will only raise questions about the credibility and transparency of these elections.
The United States and Ethiopia have a history of friendship and cooperation.
We continue to support the democratic aspirations of the Ethiopian people, and look forward to returning to Ethiopia to assist with future elections.
Until then, we urge the Government of Ethiopia to work towards creating an environment conducive to increasingly free and fair elections.
Sincerely,
U.S. Senator John McCain
Chairman of Board of Directors
International Republican Institute
Mekbeb Abebe Welde is the spitting image of Ethiopia’s fallen emperor, Haile Selassie. Mr. Abebe has the same pointy chin, down-turned nose and slight build. When he picks up a cup of macchiato and puts
it to his lips, as he did in a local cafe the other day, he does so ever so gracefully, more like a prince than a cabdriver.
But Mr. Abebe, 33, is a cabdriver. He lives a humble life in Ethiopia”s crowded capital, scrounging to survive as so many others here do.
Still, Mr. Abebe”s friends call him “Prince” and bow down when they see him, deference that stems from more than his resemblance to the emperor. Some here think Mr. Abebe really is a son born out of wedlock to the ruler, who claimed blood ties to the biblical King Solomon.
The monarchy was wiped out in this country in 1975, after the emperor died at age 83, but everyone knows the emperor”s official kin. Mr. Abebe, on the other hand, exists in a netherworld, gossiped about, pointed at and subjected at times to angry diatribes about the emperor”s misrule but not accepted by the emperor”s acknowledged flesh and blood.
Mr. Abebe has petitioned the royal family to recognize him, to no avail. No one seems interested in his offer to undergo a DNA test.
Even if he were welcomed into the family, he would not necessarily win great treasure. The emperor”s relatives live well, but most of their vast holdings were long ago seized by the state. He might enjoy prestige among devotees of the emperor, but he would have to suffer scorn from the emperor”s many detractors. Mr. Abebe says it is acceptance by blood relations that motivates him, not treasure or acclaim.
Still, it would not be so bad to be able to travel the world, as the emperor”s acknowledged relatives do. Mr. Abebe could perhaps go off to some “big name” university to get an education. He might get a big gated home to replace his modest dwelling. As the emperor”s son, he could walk into the Sheraton Addis, where the cost of a glass of orange juice exceeds many Ethiopians” daily wage, and afford to quench his thirst.
It is family lore more than anything else that Mr. Abebe offers as evidence of his blood ties. His mother, Almaz Tadesse Goshu, was one of the emperor”s many servants. They supposedly had a liaison late in the emperor”s tenure, long after his wife had died.
Mr. Abebe says his mother”s husband divorced her when he learned the child she was carrying was the emperor”s. She died when Mekbeb was 7; he was taken in by a general who had been close to the emperor.
During his one face-to-face encounter with one of the emperor”s granddaughters, Mr. Abebe said he disclosed his mother”s affair with Selassie. “She said a lot of people show up and say they are sons,” he recalled. “She said there was nothing she could do to help me.”
One of the few aides to Selassie still around, an elderly butler who works in a palace-turned-museum at Addis Ababa University, seemed stunned when he met Mr. Abebe. With an emotional look, he bowed and shook Mr. Abebe”s hand.
But he said only, “The past is the past.” Mr. Abebe seemed to take the encounter as an encouraging sign.
The question of blood ties aside, Mr. Abebe has read a great deal about the emperor, who ruled from 1930 until the military ousted him in 1974, and was killed the following year in the basement of one of his palaces and buried like the commonest of men.
Lt. Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam took over as head of the new Communist government. He ordered the executions of dozens of members of the royal family and of ministers and generals who served the emperor.
Under Mr. Mengistu”s rule, students were taught to despise Selassie. He was a feudal lord, a selfish fool, a tyrant responsible for Ethiopia”s woes, they were told.
But Mr. Mengistu”s government, too, eventually collapsed. Rebels chased him from the country in 1991 and set up the government that exists today, led by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Mr. Zenawi”s government is not fond of Selassie either, once labeling him “a tyrant and oppressor of the masses.”
It is understandable that Ethiopians are somewhat divided on his legacy. Some dismiss him as a deluded leader who spent national wealth on shrines to himself. Others praise him for the hospitals he built, the palace that he turned into the country”s main university and his work at bringing the Organization of African Unity, now the African Union, to Addis Ababa.
“His image has slowly been recovering,” said Elizabeth W. Giorgis, acting director of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies. “He”s not known as just a tyrant anymore. Most of the criticism of him is true, but he had another side to him.”
It took until 2000 for the emperor”s remains to be transferred from a temporary crypt to Holy Trinity Cathedral, placed beside his wife”s in a grand ceremony attended by thousands of wailing Ethiopians. Mr. Abebe was in the crowd that day.
Mr. Abebe said he was also on hand in 2003 when thousands gathered at the same church to lay to rest “Princess” Tenagne Worq, who was described as the last surviving child of the emperor. Mr. Abebe said he knew better.
Mekbeb Abebe Welde is the spitting image of Ethiopia’s fallen emperor, Haile Selassie. Mr. Abebe has the same pointy chin, down-turned nose and slight build. When he picks up a cup of macchiato and puts
it to his lips, as he did in a local cafe the other day, he does so ever so gracefully, more like a prince than a cabdriver.
But Mr. Abebe, 33, is a cabdriver. He lives a humble life in Ethiopia”s crowded capital, scrounging to survive as so many others here do.
Still, Mr. Abebe”s friends call him “Prince” and bow down when they see him, deference that stems from more than his resemblance to the emperor. Some here think Mr. Abebe really is a son born out of wedlock to the ruler, who claimed blood ties to the biblical King Solomon.
The monarchy was wiped out in this country in 1975, after the emperor died at age 83, but everyone knows the emperor”s official kin. Mr. Abebe, on the other hand, exists in a netherworld, gossiped about, pointed at and subjected at times to angry diatribes about the emperor”s misrule but not accepted by the emperor”s acknowledged flesh and blood.
Mr. Abebe has petitioned the royal family to recognize him, to no avail. No one seems interested in his offer to undergo a DNA test.
Even if he were welcomed into the family, he would not necessarily win great treasure. The emperor”s relatives live well, but most of their vast holdings were long ago seized by the state. He might enjoy prestige among devotees of the emperor, but he would have to suffer scorn from the emperor”s many detractors. Mr. Abebe says it is acceptance by blood relations that motivates him, not treasure or acclaim.
Still, it would not be so bad to be able to travel the world, as the emperor”s acknowledged relatives do. Mr. Abebe could perhaps go off to some “big name” university to get an education. He might get a big gated home to replace his modest dwelling. As the emperor”s son, he could walk into the Sheraton Addis, where the cost of a glass of orange juice exceeds many Ethiopians” daily wage, and afford to quench his thirst.
It is family lore more than anything else that Mr. Abebe offers as evidence of his blood ties. His mother, Almaz Tadesse Goshu, was one of the emperor”s many servants. They supposedly had a liaison late in the emperor”s tenure, long after his wife had died.
Mr. Abebe says his mother”s husband divorced her when he learned the child she was carrying was the emperor”s. She died when Mekbeb was 7; he was taken in by a general who had been close to the emperor.
During his one face-to-face encounter with one of the emperor”s granddaughters, Mr. Abebe said he disclosed his mother”s affair with Selassie. “She said a lot of people show up and say they are sons,” he recalled. “She said there was nothing she could do to help me.”
One of the few aides to Selassie still around, an elderly butler who works in a palace-turned-museum at Addis Ababa University, seemed stunned when he met Mr. Abebe. With an emotional look, he bowed and shook Mr. Abebe”s hand.
But he said only, “The past is the past.” Mr. Abebe seemed to take the encounter as an encouraging sign.
The question of blood ties aside, Mr. Abebe has read a great deal about the emperor, who ruled from 1930 until the military ousted him in 1974, and was killed the following year in the basement of one of his palaces and buried like the commonest of men.
Lt. Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam took over as head of the new Communist government. He ordered the executions of dozens of members of the royal family and of ministers and generals who served the emperor.
Under Mr. Mengistu”s rule, students were taught to despise Selassie. He was a feudal lord, a selfish fool, a tyrant responsible for Ethiopia”s woes, they were told.
But Mr. Mengistu”s government, too, eventually collapsed. Rebels chased him from the country in 1991 and set up the government that exists today, led by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Mr. Zenawi”s government is not fond of Selassie either, once labeling him “a tyrant and oppressor of the masses.”
It is understandable that Ethiopians are somewhat divided on his legacy. Some dismiss him as a deluded leader who spent national wealth on shrines to himself. Others praise him for the hospitals he built, the palace that he turned into the country”s main university and his work at bringing the Organization of African Unity, now the African Union, to Addis Ababa.
“His image has slowly been recovering,” said Elizabeth W. Giorgis, acting director of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies. “He”s not known as just a tyrant anymore. Most of the criticism of him is true, but he had another side to him.”
It took until 2000 for the emperor”s remains to be transferred from a temporary crypt to Holy Trinity Cathedral, placed beside his wife”s in a grand ceremony attended by thousands of wailing Ethiopians. Mr. Abebe was in the crowd that day.
Mr. Abebe said he was also on hand in 2003 when thousands gathered at the same church to lay to rest “Princess” Tenagne Worq, who was described as the last surviving child of the emperor. Mr. Abebe said he knew better.
The opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), the umbrella organization of four multinational opposition parties, has proposed sweeping changes to the constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) as one element of its election platform in the Election Manifesto it released on Wednesday April 6, 2005.
The proposed changes are said to have been made with the view to making the constitution more friendly to human and democratic rights, curbing the powers of the executive and ensuring the independence of the judiciary.
The coalition, which is composed of the All Ethiopia Unity Party (AEUP), the Ethiopians Democratic Union Party-Medhin (EDUP-Medhin), the Ethiopian Democratic League (EDL) and Rainbow Ethiopia: Movement for Social Justice and Democracy (Rainbow), has proposed an extensive list of amendments to make in the current constitution, including the most obvious one to Article 39 which provides for the rights of peoples, nations and nationalities, including and up to secession.
CUD’s Election Manifesto says that the way these rights are provided for in the present constitution fails to take into account and balance the multitude desires, interests and views of the Ethiopian people.
“Therefore,” says the manifesto, “it will be amended in a way that will ensure the rights of citizens both in their individual and collective capacity to self-determination with the view of making it consonant with the desires not only of those who want to secede but also those who want to stay together.”
The coalition intends to modify the regional administrative arrangement that is being followed by the present government and which has subsequently been enshrined in the constitution as well. According to the manifesto, the basis for these modifications would be the observance of the wishes, interests and desires of the people. The criteria, thus, would be the wishes of the people, the strength or otherwise of historical and cultural commonalties, language, settlement patterns and geography, etc.
The manifesto also makes clear that the leaders of the coalition will definitely go on to scrap the constitutional provision that makes land, both urban and rural, the property of the state as they have promised repeatedly to do.
CUD’s proposals also include changing the voting system to proportional representation, stripping the power to interpret the constitution off the House of the Federation, limiting the tenures of the prime minister to two terms, amending the various constitutional stipulations to ensure the independence of the judiciary, and so on. CUD also promised the scrapping of laws proclaimed in violation of the supremacy of the constitution (Article 9).
The coalition’s Election Manifesto deals also extensively with the various reform programmes in the social, economic, political and other spheres.
But Mr. Abebe, 33, is a cabdriver. He lives a humble life in Ethiopia”s crowded capital, scrounging to survive as so many others here do.