Ethiopia opposition renews threat of parliamentary boycott

Oct 9, 2005 (ADDIS ABABA) — Ethiopia’s opposition renewed its threat to boycott the opening of the new parliament Monday unless the government agrees to a number of conditions including the release of opposition members and the reopening of its offices.

“The CUD (Coalition for Unity and Democracy) has set conditions for the entry into parliament, conditions that assure democracy of the parliament,” CUD president Hailu Shawel told AFP on Sunday.

“We are going to submit these conditions to the Prime Minister if these conditions are accepted we will change our mind, otherwise we will not attend parliament”.

The conditions include the reopening of the CUD offices closed during the last few weeks of political protest and the release of arrested opposition members, as well as broader demands for an independent electoral commission, independent judiciary and equal access to the media.

Threats of parliamentary boycotts by opposition parties have been made several times during the last few months.

The first session of the new parliament will be held on Monday following controversial elections on May 15, which the opposition claims were manipulated by the governing Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF) of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi which won 371 of the 547 seats over the opposition’s 175 seats.

Meles, in power since 1991, is expected to re-elected by parliament as Prime Minister on Tuesday for a mandate of five years. He requires 50 percent of the votes to be re-elected, which he has already within his own party.

(AFP/ST)