Honorable Members of Parliament!

Let me first thank the Development Committee of the European Parliament for giving CUD the opportunity to present its views on the May 2005 elections.

The May 2005 election marks a fundamental shift in the political landscape of Ethiopia. It all started with the government’s promise that this election will not only be different from the previous two “elections” in terms of being more competitive but the management and conduct of the election will be “faultless.” Although most members of the opposition took this promise with a grain of salt, they nevertheless took the promise seriously and committed themselves to mount a credible challenge with a hope to push the frontiers of democratic politics in the country to a level that could at least significantly erode the complete monopoly of the ruling party in the country’s politics. It must be remembered that there were only 12 opposition parliamentarians in a house of 547 members in the current house of peoples’ representatives.

The election campaign started on a rather positive note. The government allowed a reasonably fair use of the government media, including agreeing to a series of debates on key political and economic issues with the main opposition parties which was broadcast live on Ethiopian Radio and Television. Opposition parties were also given six minutes of television time three times a week and 12 minutes of radio time every week day beginning in January until the last three days before polling day. While there were harassments of opposition candidates and supporters particularly in rural areas and the naked abuse of government resources to support ruling party candidates persist with impunity, the problem was not too serious to create insurmountable difficulty on the part of the opposition to wedge its campaign at least until the last month of the campaign. The first half of the campaign was also reasonably civilized in terms of its contents as the ruling party tried to garner support on the basis of its achievements while the opposition challenged the facts put out by the government and systematically attacked its claims. This first phase of the campaign was mostly aimed at providing information to the voters to enable them make an informed decision.

This was a period when the government felt quite comfortable on its impending victory and successfully convinced the international community that this election was not so much about deciding who would govern, but more about how many more seats the opposition would get in parliament to make the institution a bit more interesting while providing a much needed democratic legitimacy to the ruling party in the eyes of the international community. This confidence was largely based on the false claim that the ruling party was popular in rural constituencies (which it considers as its natural base) that contain over 85% of the seats. According to this game plan, the maximum that the opposition can hope for in this election was to gain 10 – 15% of the seats. The ruling party was so sure of this prediction that it did not even seriously campaign in rural areas until the last couple of weeks before the election.

The tone of the campaign started to change around the middle of April when the government started to feel threatened as it became obvious that it is losing the nationally televised debates rather badly and the public started to see the opposition as a credible alternative. The tone of the campaign started to change as the ruling party shifted its campaign strategy from talking about its records to hate propaganda by presenting opposition leaders along with Hitler and Mussolini on television screens and labeling the opposition as “Interhamway” in a futile attempt to invoke the memory of the horrible Rwandan genocide and suggesting that this is what would happen in case of an opposition victory. The ruling party’s despicable attempt to play the ethnic card for political gain in Ethiopia succeeded only in further discrediting it. This hate propaganda failed mainly because Ethiopian voters knew full well that the opposition is composed of almost all ethnic groups in the country. It is a well known fact that CUD alone has members from all ethnic groups in the country and fielded candidates in all the regions.

Things start to deteriorate even further in the last two weeks of the campaign as the government starts to feel that the opposition was making significant inroads in rural constituencies as it gets reports about the high turn out in opposition rallies in rural areas. EPRDF cadres and armed militia start to disrupt opposition rallies in rural areas some times using fire arms. A number of suspected opposition members and supporters were killed especially in Oromia and Amhara regions and a large number of them arrested. The problem became so alarming that all opposition parties held a joint press conference about 10 days before polling day to demand protection from the government for opposition supporters and to warn the government that the election process will be derailed unless it takes immediate action to control the blatantly illegal actions of its cadres and armed militia especially in rural areas.

Even more ominously, in the final few days of the campaign, rural government structures targeted potential poll watchers of the opposition by putting suspected supporters in jail for alleged crimes and providing “quick justice” within one day in front of the local “community courts” without any due process and sentencing them for a month or two with the clear intention of incarcerating them till the end of the election. When the opposition formally presented the list of its poll watchers three days before the election, these people became automatic targets of the local governments as we suspected. The problem became so rampant that we again called an emergency press conference on Saturday before polling day to ask the government to release our poll watchers so that we can effectively participate in the elections. The government would hear none of it. As we suspected, this deliberate targeting of poll watchers was a prelude to what was to come after polling day.

Despite all these problems Ethiopians came out on Election Day in unprecedented numbers. The hope that was generated by the possibility of electing their leaders for the first time in their history was too high to be deterred by fear or intimidation. The massive opposition demonstrations of May 8 in Addis Ababa, where millions of people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds peacefully showed their desire for change, was a clear testament to the determination and commitment of the public to democracy. It was also a rude awakening to the government that it can not take the public for granted as it has in the previous years.

Although opposition poll watchers were physically kicked out of polling places and many arrested in the previous few days, the election started on May 15 as scheduled and reasonably well. The first surprise of the day was the massive turnout where lines started to be formed beginning as early as 4:00 Am in some places some two hours before polling stations were opened. This was another troubling sign for the government. Despite some delays, polling took place peacefully in many places particularly in areas where there was a significant presence of opposition poll watchers and international observers. People waited in lines, in some cases for over ten hours without food or water to exercise their right as citizens. The patience and determination that Ethiopian voters showed during polling day would put to rest any doubt that, given the chance, Africans would gladly embrace a democratic form of government.

Given the incredibly peaceful nature of the voting process, it was a complete surprise to all concerned when the Prime Minister announced the partial “state of emergency” in Addis Ababa on the evening of May 15 before vote counting started. It was another indication that all was not well in the government camp.

In the early mornings of Monday May 16, we started getting results from polling stations that started the counting beginning Sunday night according to the rules established by the NEB. These early results started to show a clear trend indicating a victory for the opposition not only in almost all urban areas but also in many rural constituencies. In most urban constituencies where the counting was completed, what was surprising was the magnitude of opposition victory. CUD was winning between 75-85% of the votes in Addis Ababa handsomely defeating some of the big government ministers. Top regional officials in Addis Ababa and other regions were also defeated. The ministers of Capacity Building, Information, Education, Internal Revenue, Defense, infrastructure, the Mayor of Addis Ababa, the Speakers of both houses, the presidents of the Oromia and Amhara regions among many others lost the election. This was a serious blow to the prime minister and his government. This fact together with the May 8 rally enraged the officials of EPRDF and pushed them for revenge. The situation in the country as a whole and particularly in Addis Ababa deteriorated markedly and rapidly.

Despite these clear trends, the ruling party announced that it has won the majority of the seats that allows it to form the government at the federal level and in all the regions of the country except Addis Ababa on Monday evening on the radio and television it controlled even before vote counting in half of the constituencies was complete. That is when it became very clear to the public that the ruling party has decided to remain in power no matter what the results of the election. To prove this claim after the fact, the government sent armed militias all over the country to blatantly reverse the outcome of the election. Polling results that we were getting from the regions stop from coming as counting stopped in many places and ballot boxes started to disappear in some constituencies. By late Tuesday, it was clear to any one who cares to see the truth that the election process was seriously derailed.

The public started to feel cheated as it continuously hears on Radio and Television EPRDF’s victory in constituency after constituency while the opposition was completely shut out of the government media. Press conferences held by the opposition aimed at clarifying the situation and calling for proper investigation on the obvious election irregularities were simply ignored by the government media. Over the next couple of weeks, what the public hears from the government media could not tally with what the public knows about its votes in many constituencies. Tensions start to build as information about ballot stealing by armed government militia accompanied by high level of military activity in rural regions started to reach the urban population through the rumor mill and the private print media. Ominous signs of huge military build up in Addis Ababa in the form of the massive presence of heavily armed Federal Riot Police in the streets of the capital and the rumored presence of the Ag’azi commando Brigade increased the tensions even further. The environment was so tense that all it needed was a small incident to ignite trouble.

This incident was provided by the security forces when they went to the main campus of Addis Ababa University in the middle of the night on June 7 to arrest students that are supposed to be ring leaders of an expected student strike the following day to protest election irregularities and to demand a credible investigation on election fraud. The expected strike by students was not condoned by any of the opposition parties who were advising calm till the investigation process was completed. The brutal beating of students and the massive arrest of students that followed the next day set in motion a wide spread protest by residents of the capital including a transportation strike by taxi drivers the next day against the official advise of the opposition against such action. What followed, of course, was the brutal killing of over 36 innocent people and numerous injuries with live bullets by armed commandos with random shooting aimed directly at killing and maiming in order to completely terrorize the residents of the capital and as revenge to the electoral defeat that the ruling party suffered. In one incident, two young brothers were killed by government forces which led their mother to commit suicide when she found out about the murder of her two children.

This unnecessary use of force was also aimed at sending a clear signal to the opposition that the government is bent on staying in power by any means necessary and possibly circumventing the investigation process into election irregularities. Following the unrest, security forces started arresting suspected CUD members and supporters using paid informants all over the country in order to paralyze the activities of the party. Some CUD leaders were put under house arrest and others constantly followed by security forces wherever they go and their movement restricted. When I left the country on Monday morning, any where between 4000 and 6000 CUD members, activists and supporters including over 100 key mid level party functionaries working in the head office and various regional offices were in prison without any due process. The government seemed to be determined to destroy CUD that has clearly emerged as a strong and credible alternative to the ruling party in general and specifically to weaken its capacity to effectively participate in the upcoming investigation process.

A review and investigation process was agreed by the three main parties (CUD, UEDF and EPRDF) following marathon negotiations by the three parties under the auspices of the EU, the United States, the African Union and the United Nations led by the competent hand of Tim Clarke, the EU delegation head in Addis Ababa. I would like to use this opportunity to thank Tim Clarke for the commitment and skill he displayed to bring about peace in the country while maintaining a firm commitment to the democratization process.

In addition to the signed agreement on how to proceed with the review and investigation, there were a series of confidence building measures (release of prisoners, access to the media, reduction of armed forces in the city to normal levels, bringing to justice human rights violators, avoiding incitement to violence and ethnic hatred …etc.) recommended by the opposition parties in consultation with the diplomatic community to create a conducive environment to conduct the investigation in a credible manner. It is abundantly clear that the opposition could not participate in an effective manner in these investigations while its party activists, poll watchers and witnesses to the alleged fraud are still in prison. It is also clear that an environment of calm necessary for a credible investigation could not be achieved while the public only hears a one sided propaganda vilifying the opposition from the government controlled media. It is up to the government now to implement these confidence building measures in order to quickly and effectively implement the tripartite agreement.

Honorable Members of Parliament!

As I said in the beginning of my remark, the political land escape in Ethiopia has changed dramatically owing to the May 15 elections. An election process that started with high hopes is seriously threatened by the intransigence of the ruling party and its unwillingness to accept the verdict of the people. The value of real democratization in Ethiopia cannot be understated. Genuine Democracy is not only valuable in its own right to allow citizens to live in an atmosphere of freedom in their own country, it is also a very important instrument for economic development by providing good governance that is so crucial for economic progress. As the Nobel laureate Amaratya Sen cogently put it, Freedom is both an end and a means for development. What is at stake in Ethiopia today is the degree to which the public’s desire for freedom and economic progress could be allowed to be thwarted by force in order to satisfy the greed for power of a few. Ethiopia has a chance to contribute to peace and stability in the region by being an example of stability through credible democratic governance. The failure of this process has negative implications to the whole region. We should not allow it to fail!

CUD would like to iterate its position in no uncertain terms that what it wants to see is a proper completion of the election process in a peaceful atmosphere. What it will not accept is any attempt to circumvent the will of the people. It stands ready to accept the will of the people no matter what the result. Once the will of the people is credibly established, CUD stands ready to enter any form of political dialogue and compromise with any party in so far as it helps achieve a democratic political transition in a stable and peaceful manner.

CUD appreciates EU development support to Ethiopia. It understands that its increasing commitment to support Ethiopia emanates from its desire to support the Ethiopian people rather than the need to help maintain any particular regime in power. We have now a chance to forge an even more durable relationship with the emergence of a legitimate democratic government in Ethiopia. This is a monumental time in Ethiopian history. The yearning for freedom that the Ethiopian people have showed during this election is a further affirmation of the human bond that we share with people across the globe. A successful completion of the process could release the energies of the Ethiopian people to fight against poverty and other social problems in an atmosphere of freedom and stability. Let us work together to prevent any attempt at a reversal of the democratic journey that we all started with high hopes. Let us keep hope alive!

Finally, allow me to thank the EU Election Observation Mission to Ethiopia and the competent leadership of Anna Gomez. Her professionalism and passionate commitment to due process and democracy was an inspiration to many of us who have a chance to work closely with her. We hope the EU will provide the necessary funding for the mission to complete its work by actively participating in the investigation process and in observing the reelections that is soon to follow the investigation. The fact that election irregularities were seriously minimized in places where the EOM was present is a testimony to the value of the mission and the desperate need for their presence in the coming weeks.

Thank You!