Ethiopian opposition rejects govt’s election win claim

By CHRIS TOMLINSON

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, May 17, 2005 (AP) — Opposition leaders Tuesday dismissed claims that the ruling party had won a majority in Ethiopia ‘s parliament, saying it was too early to have a clear picture of the results from the weekend’s election.

Ethiopian opposition leader for the Coalition of Unity and Democracy (CUD) Hailu shawel, casts his vote at a polling station in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa May 15, 2005. (Reuters).

Late Monday, the ruling party said in a statement it had won a majority of seats in Ethiopia ‘s parliament in weekend voting, while acknowledging that the opposition had won the capital, Addis Ababa.

The brief statement released by state media didn’t say how many seats the governing coalition had won or offer any other details about Sunday’s vote, which drew 90% of voters to the polls for what was seen as a test of Ethiopian leaders’ commitment to democracy.

The main opposition group, the Coalition for Unity and Democracy, insisted the declaration of victory was too early.

“If they have won fairly and squarely I have no problem with that, but the counting is not even over yet. It is still too early to call,” said leader Hailu Shawel.

The National Election Board is expected to announce provisional results Saturday, although results are being posted outside polling stations when counting is complete. Official election results will be announced on June 8th.

“They are announcing areas where they have swindled results. This is just a propaganda piece that has nothing to do with the conclusive outcome,” added Beyene Petros, vice chairman of the opposition party, the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces.

The opposition groups – which came into the race with just 12 of 547 seats in parliament – had been expected to do well in Addis Ababa and other urban areas. Opposition leaders had claimed Monday that, by their count, they had won at least 185 seats across the country, including 23 seats in the capital.

The ruling coalition that ended an oppressive dictatorship in 1991 was expected to move ahead as results come in from rural areas, where most of Ethiopia ‘s 70 million people live.

International observers – allowed to monitor voting here for the first time – didn’t back the opposition’s accusations of widespread problems. More than 500 foreign observers, including European Union teams, monitored the polls.

Shawel scoffed at the observers for their so-far upbeat assessment, calling them “a joke” and saying they had failed to do their duty. But the large turnout indicated most Ethiopians embraced the process as largely free and fair.

Kemal Bedri, chairman of the National Electoral Board, said 90% of the more than 25 million who had registered voted. Polling stations were overwhelmed. Those still in line after polls officially closed at 6 p.m. (1500 GMT) Sunday were allowed to vote, and polling in Addis Ababa lasted until 5 a.m. Monday.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, known as one of the continent’s more progressive leaders, has pledged his sometimes authoritarian government would introduce greater democracy. Many had pointed to Sunday’s race as a test of his commitment to reform.

Ethiopia was an absolute monarchy under Emperor Haile Selassie until the mid-1970s, when a brutal Marxist junta overthrew him.

Civil wars wracked the ethnically fractured country in the 1980s, and famine took as many as 1 million lives. Meles’ rebel group overthrew the junta in 1991. Meles became president, then prime minister in 1995.