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.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia’s election board says provisional results show the ruling party has won the national vote.
Board chairman Merga Bekana says the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front and its allies have won in the nine regions that have reported results out of a total of 11.
He says the party also is ahead for 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 had 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.
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ADDIS ABABA (VOA) — Early reports suggest Ethiopia’s ruling party has won a massive victory in Sunday’s parliament elections. Almost every major opposition leader appears to have been defeated.
The headquarters of Ethiopia’s main opposition party was like a funeral parlor as observers reported in from around the country, opposition leaders were dumbstruck at the possibility of a nearly complete rout.
High-profile leaders such as former president Negasso Gidada, senior figures in the parliamentary opposition Merera Gudina and Beyene Petros, all appear headed for defeat.
Other prominent political leaders, including Hailu Shewal and Lidetu Ayalew were also said to have conceded.
In Addis Ababa, opposition parties won all 23 seats in parliament five years ago, but this time it looks as if they have been wiped out.
Sitting in a quiet back office of jailed opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa’s Unity for Justice and Democracy party headquarters, parliamentary leader Temesgen Zewdie was devastated by the early results.
“It is a total surprise, a total shock, and we are sure investigating as to what went wrong for us to perform this poorly,” said Temesgen Zewdie.
Temesgen said an opposition divided into many blocs made it easy for Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front in ‘first past the post’ contests.
“Medrek in Addis and the regions, in the preliminary showing, is second to EPRDF, and had this been proportional representation, we probably would have shared some seats with the ruling party, but since this is winner take all system, we are at a disadvantage,” said Temesgen.
In the yard outside party headquarters, scores of young opposition supporters milled around, obviously upset. Nineteen-year-old Achame Lazarus, who had served as a Medrek poll watcher Sunday, said the election had been stolen.
“We are practicing false democracy in Ethiopia, the principles are being told by our government officials, but as you can see from the ground level, things are going not on the right track,” said Achame Lazarus.
Medrek senior leader and former Ethiopian president Negasso Gidada said the job of party elders is to cool down their disenchanted supporters to avoid a repeat of the violence that followed the disputed 2005 election.
“Maybe some of them are angry, but we will cool them, we will register the facts, what happened in the process, tell them what happened, and after telling them, we will tell them, be cool, we are a peaceful party, and when there are cases that have to go to the election board, and if it is not solved there we will go to the court,” said Negasso Gidada.
The first word from election officials is the elections had gone smoothly and peacefully. National Electoral Board spokesman Mohamed Abdurahman said there had been no reports of cheating.
“The board has received no single complaint formally, including the opposition parties, the public, the ruling party, they all said it was peaceful, calm and free,” said Mohamed Abdurahman.
Ruling party officials were cautious in declaring victory. Government Communications Minister Bereket Simon would only say it appeared as if the EPRDF had won comfortably. Party spokesman Hailemariam Dessalegn said he was standing by earlier predictions of turnout possibly exceeding 90 percent.
The European Union and African Union deployed a total of nearly 250 observers spread out across the country to monitor activities at 43,000 precincts. EU Chief Observer Thijs Berman has scheduled a news conference Tuesday to deliver a preliminary verdict on the fairness of the vote.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — An international human rights group said Monday that Ethiopia’s national election was marred by repression and intimidation, while the government said the vote was free and fair.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said Sunday’s parliamentary vote was corrupted by pre-election irregularities that included telling voters they could lose food assistance, public-sector jobs, loans, and educational opportunities if they voted against the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front.
“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.”
European Union observers said Sunday’s vote was peaceful and that more than 70 percent of the 32 million registered voters took to the polls. Ethiopian election officials said they witnessed no irregularities, but opposition officials complained of vote-rigging and intimidation on election day.
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. “But the good thing is the people of Ethiopia have voted and no one is going to take their vote away from them.”
Election officials said they would release provisional results as early as late Monday, and final results in late June.
Analysts have predicted an easy win for the ruling party led by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, a U.S. ally now poised to enter a second decade of power after he seized control of the Horn of Africa country in a 1991 coup.
EU observers said Sunday that they received reports of irregularities, both of a technical nature and from candidates and opposition groups. They said they will release a report Tuesday with details of the irregularities that were reported to them.
Sunday’s vote was closely watched by international observers after a contentious 2005 election.
That year, a then-energetic opposition won an unprecedented number of parliamentary seats in this country of 85 million, only to endure police crackdowns and the killing of 193 demonstrators after the votes were counted.
Since 2005, the opposition and some analysts say the government has systematically stifled the competition, and ensured an uneventful election by enacting restrictive laws that restrict aid groups from working on human rights issues and hinder the media.
While the ruling party and election officials have said the election would be free and fair, 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. Both countries want to curb Islamist extremism in Somalia, Ethiopia’s unstable neighbor to the east. Ethiopia is reliant on billions of dollars of foreign aid, most of it from the U.S.
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.
Election monitors and journalists this morning have observed election irregularities in southern Ethiopian town of Awassa where Southern Regional state president Shiferaw Shigute is a candidate. Ethiopian Review sources are reporting that when election observers and journalists arrived at polling stations, ballot boxes were already unsealed and unauthorized individuals had access to them.
Similar voting irregularities and intimidation of opposition candidates and supporters are being reported in other parts of the country as well. Officials of the major opposition bloc, Medrek, told reporters that they are being followed by the ruling party’s security forces.
In Addis Ababa, few voters turned out to vote compared to the 2005 elections 5 years ago. In some polling stations there are were no observers.
In Tigray region’s town of Temben, Medrek election observers have been chased away from polling stations, according to Ato Seye Abraha, a spokesman for Medrek. Heavy gun shots were also heard near the town of Adwa yesterday, and on Friday fighter jets flew over Meleke, Ato Seye told reporters this morning.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia’s largest opposition bloc said they have evidence of voter intimidation and vote-rigging that may lead them to reject the results of Sunday’s national election.
The vote is being closely watched by international observers and by critics who say the U.S.-allied ruling party has harassed voters and challengers.
Opposition members and the ruling party’s critics say the poll will likely lead to a new decade of power for Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who seized control of the Horn of Africa country in a 1991 coup. Opposition leaders say they worry the election may turn into a repeat of the contentious poll in 2005, when about 100 opposition politicians and activists who challenged the results were arrested.
The largest opposition bloc, Medrek, complained of intimidation soon after Sunday’s vote began.
Medrek spokesman Negasso Gidada said with just three hours into voting, some of his party’s observers have been blocked and arrested in northern Ethiopia, and others have been intimidated in southern Ethiopia.
Negasso said his party also believes voting booths are not private and that Medrek has complained to election officials.
“We think we may not accept the results,” Negasso said.
Government spokesman Bereket Simon, however, said he was not aware of not any election irregularities or problems and when told by The Associated Press of the opposition claims, he said “this is simply, simply an orchestrated lie.
“If they reject the result before it’s declared, it means they know how they’ve been accepted,” he said “They know they have lost it squarely.”
Negasso said a group of his party’s election observers were arrested Saturday in Tigray. He also said that his party’s observers are being intimidated in Oromia and Amhara regions, and that voter cards are being denied to eligible opposition voters. He also said that the plastic sheets separating election booths in the capital are not private enough and that voters can speak to each other and pass notes under the barriers.
“In many places the secret ballot is being violated. This is very serious,” Negasso said.
Meles’ Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front denies it repressed its opponents and says candidates have been able to campaign freely. But opposition members say they have been harassed and two of their campaigners have been killed under mysterious circumstances.
The opposition and some analysts also say the government has systematically stifled the competition since 2005 and ensured an uneventful election by enacting restrictive laws that restrict aid groups from working on human rights issues and hinder the media.
While the ruling party and election officials have said the election would be free and fair, 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. Both countries want to curb Islamist extremism in Somalia, Ethiopia’s unstable neighbor to the east. Ethiopia is reliant on billions of dollars of foreign aid, most of it from the U.S.
Meles’ rule has weathered many challenges: droughts, tensions over a disputed border with Eritrea and rebel movements around the country. The Ethiopian army also made an incursion into neighboring Somalia in late 2006 to support the weak U.N.-backed Somali government in its fight against Islamist insurgents before withdrawing last year.
The ruling party has based its campaign on promises of economic growth, agricultural development and improvements in health and education.
At a polling station in central Addis Ababa, dozens of voters queued at dawn to vote before polls opened at 6 a.m. (0300 GMT; 11 p.m. EDT Saturday).
Kinde Moges, a 35-year-old private security guard, said he came early to vote before starting work.
“The party I voted for is my choice because I know its past experience and its future hopes,” he said, indicating he voted for the ruling party. He said he thought the party he chose would help his three children get a good education and jobs, he said, to “support me in my old age.”
Polling stations in the center of the capital appeared calm and orderly, a marked contrast to the long lines and excited voters in the 2005 election. That year, a then-energetic opposition won an unprecedented number of parliamentary seats in this country of 85 million, only to endure police crackdowns and the killing of 193 demonstrators after the votes were counted.
The government has said observers from the European Union and the African Union can monitor the vote along with 40,000 local observers.
Associated Press writer Samson Haileyesus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia contributed to this report.
