ADDIS ABABA (Xinhuanet) — Ethiopian Minister of Federal Affairs Abay Tsehaye on Saturday stressed the need for police to discharge their duties for the May 15 parliamentary elections.
The Ethiopian minister made the call here at the conclusion of a training on election code of ethics for police.
Abay said the right of police to vote should go in tune with their obligation to remain non-partisan to any political party.
He said it was imperative that police and other pertinent bodies of the judiciary serve the public equally all through the process of elections in which citizens should vote for contestants of their choice.
This is the people’s constitutional right, he said.
The training was offered to police officers, who discussed various election issues, including the experiences of the past two democratic elections.
Abay called on the trainee officers to spread the knowledge they have acquired to the police members under their respective commands.
The May 15 national elections will be the third democratic ballot in Ethiopia’s history, the only African country not to be colonized.
The previous elections have been convincingly won by the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front.
More than 25 million of Ethiopia’s 70 million people have registered to vote. Voter registration continues until the end of February.