ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – The European Union criticized Ethiopia on Thursday for flaws in bitterly-contested elections that have given Prime Minister Meles Zenawi a second term.
In a report published in Addis Ababa, an EU election observer mission listed a catalog of irregularities in the May 15 poll and the lengthy counting-process that followed, including unnecessary delays and intimidation of opponents.
In one case, a witness to opposition allegations of fraud, Wudu Amelegn, was assassinated days after testifying to a complaints investigation panel, the report said.
“Until 15 May when voting started, the picture was positive. After that day we had good and negative sides,” EU chief observer Ana Gomes told reporters.
“In several important aspects, international standards for genuine democratic elections were not met.”
Unrest over alleged vote-rigging led to the police shooting dead at least 36 protesters and arresting thousands more in June.
After nearly three months of counting, preliminary results gave Meles outright victory on August 9. The opposition has refused to accept the results.
The EU report chided Ethiopia for flawed handling of complaints and re-runs of elections in some constituencies.
Some witnesses to alleged election fraud were unavailable because they were afraid, had been detained or — in Amelegn’s case — “an important witness was killed,” the report said.
“These practices taken as a whole are seriously undermining the transparency and fairness of the elections,” the report said.
INTIMIDATION
“The climate of threats and intimidation was maintained throughout the complaints investigation process.”
Gomes said she was considering suing a state-run daily newspaper for defamation after it suggested she was favoring opposition parties.
The Ethiopian Herald carried an article titled “Gomes, Clarke: Neutral observers or hidden dealers?” in which it criticized her and another EU official, Tim Clarke.
Gomes called it a “garbage attack.”
The election was only the second real multi-party poll in Africa’s top coffee producer, the second most populous country in sub-Saharan Africa with 72 million people.
Opposition parties boycotted Ethiopia’s first national election in 1995, handing the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) a straight victory. The ruling party comfortably won polls in 2000.
Meles has in the past been feted by Western leaders and was a prominent member of the British-sponsored Africa Commission giving recommendations to the G8 group of rich nations on how to tackle the continent’s problems.
But accusations of fraud in the poll, then the violence and mass arrests which followed, have for many shed doubt on his democratic credentials.
Ethiopia Polls fall short of international standards: European Union
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Key aspects of Ethiopia’s parliamentary elections failed to meet international standards, the European Union’s chief observer said Thursday.
The May 15 voting included widespread human rights abuses such as arrests of opposition members and witness intimidation, Ana Gomes said.
“Overall the elections appeal process failed to provide an effective remedy for the parties,” she said in the EU’s first report on developments since the elections. The ruling coalition has been declared the winner.
The National Electoral Board is reviewing the report and will respond Friday, said its spokesman, Getahun Amogne. Government officials were not immediately available for comment.
Days of violence followed the elections as protesters angered by allegations of fraud clashed with security forces. Human rights groups say 42 people were killed by security forces trying to disperse the crowds.
Berhanu Nega, vice chairman of the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy, said the EU report provided a good basis for talks with the government to overcome an impasse over the election results.
“I think it was a good, honest report and now we need dialogue to resolve the current deadlock,” Berhanu said.
He said that such talks would determine whether the opposition will boycott parliament to protest voting irregularities.
The elections had been seen as a test of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s commitment to democratic reform. His administration had shown authoritarian tendencies before the voting, and developments since have been troubling.
Results released by Ethiopia officials gave Meles’ ruling coalition 296 seats in the 547-member assembly and its allied parties won 22 seats, enough to form a government. The election board said the opposition won 161 seats. Opposition parties only won 12 seats during the last elections, in 2000.
Information Minister Bereket Simon said that Gomes and the European Union favored the opposition, even though they had been unable to prove most of their claims of electoral fraud.
ADDIS ABABA – The European Union’s chief election observer in Ethiopia has said recent elections failed to meet international standards in several key respects.
Ana Gomes criticised the way charges of electoral fraud were dealt with after the parliamentary elections.
“Solid evidence” of irregularities presented by the opposition had been dismissed, she said.
The coalition led by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi retained its majority but the opposition gained many seats.
Several days of violence followed the 15 May poll and around 40 people were killed when police fired on crowds of protesters.
‘Votes for sale’
Last Sunday, repeat elections were held in 31 seats, as well as in the Somali region.
“The EU Observation Mission regrets [that the election process] did not live up to the international standards and to the aspirations of Ethiopians for democracy,” Ms Gomes said.
She especially criticised the elections in the Somali region, saying they were “poorly organized, full of irregularities, including ballots being sold in the black market.”
The results from Sunday’s elections have not yet been released.
She also said there had been human rights abuses, such as the arrest of opposition activists and the intimidation of witnesses.
The main opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy has refused to accept the official results and welcomed the EU statement.
“I think it was a good, honest report and now we need dialogue to resolve the current deadlock,” said CUD vice-chairman Berhanu Nega.
Information Minister Bereket Simon dismissed the EU report as “biased”.
