ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — The leader of the European Union’s election observers in Ethiopia has protested the ruling party’s use of hate speech ahead of the May 15 balloting in a confidential letter to the National Electoral Board and in internal reports obtained by The Associated Press.

The EU’s chief observer, Ana Gomes, listed acts of violence and intimidation by ruling party members and officials in her letter. In a weekly situation report to the diplomatic community, she also cited the alleged slaying of an opposition leader by a ruling party militia commander.

In her May 4 letter to the election board obtained by the AP, Gomes is critical of the ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front for comparing opposition parties to the militia responsible for Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.

On May 5, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi repeated the comparison.

“Their policies are geared toward creating hatred and rifts between ethnic groups similar to the policies of the Interahamwe when Hutu militia massacred Tutsis in Rwanda,” Meles said, in direct violation of a code of conduct he signed when he registered to run for re-election.

In an interview on state-run television, Meles called on Ethiopians to “punish opposition parties who are promoting an ideology of hatred.”

Gomes, on Monday, said her letter was the first sent to authorities.

“I’m not expecting formal answers, not even verbal promises, I’m expecting action,” Gomes said. She said while the campaign was positive overall, her observers had gathered evidence of violence and in some cases witnessed it first hand.

Meles and the ruling coalition have held power since overthrowing a totalitarian junta in 1991. For the first time, opposition coalitions have had free access to state media and have been allowed to campaign relatively freely, but they still face significant informal restrictions, the EU situation report said.

Ethiopia’s government is structured on what it calls ethnic federalism. The country and the population are divided into nine provinces based on ethnicity, but the degree of autonomy among the provinces and how great a role ethnicity should play in the electoral province has long been debated and is an important issue in the election.

Gomes wrote that while there has been progress in improving Ethiopia’s electoral process, “there are still several areas of concern which, if not properly addressed, could have a negative impact on the entire electoral process.”

One item is the “unfair radio and TV campaigning with scaring images and messages associating (the) genocide experience in Rwanda with eventual similar developments in Ethiopia. This was started by the EPRDF against the opposition.”

The letter goes on to note that at least one opposition party has started using similar language.

Telephone calls to government officials for comment went unanswered. The recipient of Gomes’ letter, electoral board chairman Kemal Bedri Kelo, said he could not immediately comment.

Ruling party officials were also not immediately available for comment.

More than 100 additional EU observers arrived in Ethiopia late Sunday night, adding to the more than 50 already in the country. This is the first time the Ethiopian government has allowed international observers.