Global IssuesETHIOPIA: New Election Code Sparks Furore
Opposition parties are troubled by what they say is government’s strategy to keep them out of the general elections in May 2010.
They accuse the ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) of harassment. This includes arrests, obstruction of public meetings, and even murder. A recent binding document called Elections Code of Conduct for Political Parties, and lamented by opposition parties as a government weapon to delay election complaint procedures and punish disputes, is seen as part of the harassment.
Major opposition parties like the Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ), for example, allege this ‘nuisance’ is part of EPRDF’s strategy to stop opposition members from running in the elections.
But senior EPRDF and government officials say they are not aware of such harassment, only the arrest of suspected criminals regardless of their affiliation.
'When elections approach, the government activates different strategies to incriminate our candidates, to discourage them from running in the elections,' said Professor Beyene Petros, deputy chairman of organisational affairs at the Forum for Democratic Dialogue in Ethiopia (FDDE), a coalition of eight opposition bodies.
'Twenty-four of our potential candidates are facing various forms of harassment, including imprisonment,' Petros alleges. Earlier, other parties accused the EPRDF of arresting 450 members to discourage them from running in the May elections.
They allege imprisonment and harassment are part of the ruling party's strategy to claim a landslide victory.
Petros views the new code as the government’s instrument to criminalise dissent. Architects of the code, the EPRDF and three opposition parties — the Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP), All Ethiopia Unity Organization (AEUO) and Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUDP) — say it is a binding document by which everyone competing in the national and regional elections in May 2010 has to abide.
Other parties allege that the EDP, AEUO and CUDP are ‘embedded’ with the government and cannot represent opposition views.
'These are not genuine oppositions,' the FDDE said in a statement after the signing of the code by the four parties. The code sets out campaigning, voting and party symbol guidelines, as well as how to deal with intimidation and violence, abuse of office and corruption. It includes the setting up of an inter-party council to handle disputes among parties.
It states that political parties are expected to file complaints to the inter-party council, while maintaining the right to take cases to electoral executives or the judiciary. But this has to come after an attempt to resolve disputes between disputing parties. 'Any party with a complaint that another party breaches the code shall first attempt to resolve the dispute in talks with the accused party,' reads the code.
Petros says this creates more hurdles in procedures of dealing with complaints. It also duplicates the roles and mandates of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) and the judiciary.
The four parties that developed the code say this document will become part of Ethiopia’s electoral law. And FDDE leaders argue it is unnecessary, as the country already has an electoral law crafted by NEBE.
The signatories said the new code, particularly the part providing for an inter-party council, would help make the elections free, fair and peaceful.
Some experts view this code as just a good start. 'The initiative is very good,' Gebremedhin Siomn, dean of the Addis Ababa University School of Journalism, told IPS. 'But the main issue is whether the elements of the code will be observed by all parties.'
Of the more than 90 registered political parties in Ethiopia, nearly 30 — including the FDDE — rejected the new code when it was presented to them by the NEBE for approval.
They argued that a code crafted and signed by four parties was not legitimate to govern more than 90 parties. 'The architects have gone beyond their mandates in crafting the code, which should have been done by NEBE, if need be,' the other parties said.
But Gebremedhin argues that regardless of whoever developed the code, the main question should be whether it addresses key issues or not.
Petros says none of the issues the opposition parties tabled for discussion with the EPRDF following the violence in the aftermath of Ethiopia’s elections in 2005 are addressed by the code.
'The key issues were independence of electoral board members and of the judiciary, as well as the discipline of electoral officials the government assigns at regional, zonal and district levels,' he told IPS.
But 65 parties have signed the code, according to NEBE. Yet Petros maintains the government has already started harassing opposition candidates, and fears this will be worsen when the code is written into law. 'This will only diminish the narrow political space in Ethiopia,' he told IPS.
An assessment by the Ibrahim Index of African Governance, a ranking of African countries according to governance quality, has ranked Ethiopia poor in terms of governance.
Ethiopia scored below the continental average in three of the four categories: Safety and Rule of Law, Participation in Human Rights, and Human Development. Though the East African nation has scored above the continental and regional averages on the fourth category — Sustainable Economic Opportunity — overall it stood 37th out of 53.
Its score in the Participation and Human Rights category is even worse. The country scored 35.2 out of 100, and stood 42nd in this category, which rates political participation, strength of democracy, free and fair elections as well as electoral self-determination. Petros said the report is 'an underestimate of the realities in Ethiopia', particularly in relation to elections and human rights.
Arrests of opposition party members continue in the run up to the elections. 'These jailings are to stop our members running in elections,' said Gizachew Shiferaw, deputy chairman of the UDJ. 'It has become a strategy for the ruling party.'
Government persistently denies these accusations.
Bereket Simon, chief of the government’s Communication Affairs Office, said the allegations were unfounded, and those arrested were suspected criminals.
'Nobody has been imprisoned or killed for political activity,' he said. The government’s preliminary investigation indicated they were engaged in real crime, Simon said.
Nevertheless, Asfaw Angatu, an MP from the opposition Oromo People’s Congress (OPC), told IPS that in the week in which the government denied accusations, about 18 of their members preparing for the elections were arrested.
'I wonder why our members are always crime suspects … it is just that EPRDF realised we will win the elections and want to discourage our candidates,' Angatu said.
Critics say the EPRDF will easily win the 2010 elections, and opposition parties agree. Many feel government harassment will prevent their members from contesting. But government strongly rejects these claims, saying the opposition is trying to discredit the electoral process, because they realise they have no chance of winning.
Opposition parties say they will continue to appeal, despite a government statement that it 'can't release criminals just because they are opposition members'.
The last time Ethiopia held general elections was in May 2005. The polls were followed by deadly violence sparked by allegations that the EPRDF rigged the vote. Almost 200 people were killed. The new code is expected to be debated in parliament in a few months time.
© Inter Press Service (2009) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service