Ensuring Free and Fair Elections in Ethiopia: A Call to Action for the International Community

As we are sure you will be aware, Ethiopia has faced immense socio-political crisis that has made millions of people destitute and dependent on international relief aid year in and year out basis. This is one of the paradoxes of our time given the country’s potentially rich natural and human resources.

We believe the international community has a moral and self-interest considerations to assist Ethiopia overcome what is in effect a man made perpetual crisis with inherently serious consequences for the stability of the Horn of Africa and country-country diplomatic and socio-political relations.

We would like to note that Ethiopia has the potential to emerge as an economic and business attraction centre of the Horn of Africa region. Ethiopia has sufficient experience in international diplomacy and can act as a focus for peace in the sub-region not least due to being the seat of the African Union and the longest independent polity with organic links with Africa and Asia in equal measure, particularly the Middle East.

However, Ethiopia can and would only discharge her responsibilities, be it domestic, international or sub-regional if there were responsible and accountable governance at its own centre. At the present though, due to poor governance, inappropriate economic system, oppressive and dictatorial political structure, Ethiopia has become the marker and the symbol of failures and failings that bedevil part of the African continent.

Billions of dollars that were poured into the country in the wake of repetitive famine episodes have made no difference to the crushing poverty as the ruling minority clique misuses what is left of personal self-enrichment on war and internal suppression of dissents, may we say at the expense of the poor and the Donors’ good will. The ruling minority regime of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has remained an embarrassment to the world especially to its western donors and supporters.

We believe that the joke of the current status quo of a poverty inducing ruling clique calling itself ‘democratic’ while practising the most barbaric system of rule is an unsustainable and costly adventure. We believe that it is high time to take stock of as to why Ethiopia is in such a deep crisis through a non-partisan a re-evaluation of the Meles Zenawi’s government’s records.

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One fundamental area in this regard is making sure that the election becomes a legitimate genuinely competitive process that meets international standards of accountability and transparency. For the electoral system to be a viable process in popular mandate, the international community needs to assist Ethiopians’ self-empowerment. The empowerment that gives the people the ultimate say in who governs them and what sort of policies such a government may deploy to tackle the ever-deepening crisis. It is only a government whose legitimacy is verified by peoples’ consent through the ballet box that can mobilise all resources, both at home and abroad, to move from perennial crisis management to long-term development and durable peace.

The current status quo of a no war and no peace stand off between Eritrea and Ethiopia can only be resolved through mutual cooperation if there were to be an accountable and transparent Ethiopian government that has earned legitimacy by people’s free will unlike the minority led Meles Zenawi’s regime whose very existence has produced the very crisis itself. The Ethiopian opposition parties and the Ethiopian people at large would like an end to the needless bloodshed between brothers and sisters by entering into amicable negotiations for a peaceful co-existence based on equity and fairness to all the people of the two countries. In this regard, we argue that the up-coming parliamentary election in May 2005 is a window of opportunity that can be used to halt the crisis. The United Ethiopian Democratic Forces, UEDF, has clear strategies on how to engage in a free and fair election to form responsible governance should they win the election.

However, the TPLF/EPRDF regime has a history of conducting ‘elections’ that its own cadres police with predictable outcomes of claimed overwhelming victories in the race that they are the only contenders and winners while hundreds of opposition supporters are being detained or killed as the state controls everything from the mass media to local police and militia. We fear that unless there are verifiable monitoring independent mechanisms and internationally accredited bodies in place to provide an oversight, the election would be anything, but a hitherto predictable fraudulent outcome that would leave the autocratic regime of Meles Zenawi to return itself to continue running an illegitimate crisis-ridden system of unaccountability while continuing to haunt the conscience of the world with images of the needlessly dying children from avoidable hunger and diseases.

But, we do persist to hope and plead that the British government, amongst other European governments and the United States Government, would use your good offices to help effect the following to guarantee a free and fair election:

A. Reforming Election Commission

As per the request of The United Ethiopian Democratic Forces, UEDF’s, submission to Mr Meles Zenawi earlier in 2004, we kindly ask that:

• The various political groups and independent civic organisations should have fair representation in the electoral board and all its branches.

• The overall independence of the electoral board should be ascertained.
• The electoral board should be made accountable only to the electorate.

B. Creating a level playing field for competition between political parties

• Redress the huge imbalance in resources, between the incumbent and its challengers.
• Control and restrict the unfair advantage the government takes over its competitors by utilising the structure and resources of the state in its campaign for power.
• allowing the use of the government owned electronic and print media by other parties to disseminate their political views for the election.
• Allowing free and fair access to use of halls and assembly places that are owned and/or controlled by central governments and local authorities.
• Oblige the state to respect the right of political parties to gather and hold political rallies.

C. Monitoring the election process:

• Monitoring the proposed reform and processes outlined in A and B above prior to the election.
• Monitoring the election itself including the handling of ballot papers and boxes.
• Evaluating the election process in its entirety.

We trust that even achieving a partial realisation of the three action points would have a significant impact on the democratisation of the Ethiopian election process yielding a relatively meaningful outcome.

However, we also believe that simply sending a team of independent observers will not be sufficient to affect a desired outcome. It is clear and obvious that an accredited delegation of observers that would look into the election mechanism and the process in its entirety that then reports back to the donor governments is a preferred and more effective option. We sincerely hope that the British government through the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices would act in the best interests of Ethiopians and your own national long term interests to use your good offices to influence the up-coming national election in Ethiopia that would set the trend for stability, development and durable peace.

Thanking you in advance for your attention and the consideration you would give to this appeal.

Yours sincerely,