Ethiopia’s supreme court rejects high court’s ruling on electoral results
ADDIS ABABA, June 28, 2005 (Xinhua) — Ethiopia’s Federal Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled out a decision passed by the Federal High Court obliging the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) not to announce provisional results of the May 15 parliamentary elections.
The Federal Supreme Court said in a ruling that after looking into the call the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy ( CUD) had made against provisional result announcements and into a verdict the Federal High Court passed in favor of the CUD’s request, it accepted NEBE’s petitions and rejected the Federal High Court’s ruling.
The supreme court ruled out the high court’s decision, describing it as being misrepresented in essence, misdirected in the arguments and misinterpreted concerning the relevant legal provisions.
NEBE, the supreme court said, has the power, as stipulated in the electoral law, to verify the eligibility of voting results and to make public announcements of them.
Thus, it said, CUD’s application, which refers to one of the provisions of the electoral law, does not merit favor.
It said there is no law that prevents NEBE from announcing provisional results, which it had proved to be eligible.
The electoral law compels NEBE to verify and announce provisional results immediately, which NEBE has adhered to in the required transparency, the supreme court said.
Provisional results, released by NEBE, have showed the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front consolidated a clear majority in the 547-seat lower House of People’s Representatives.
However, CUD, the country’s largest opposition party rejected the provisional results and indicted NEBE’s illegal announcement.
Ethiopians went to poll on May 15 in the country’s two separate elections to elect representatives to the House of People’s Representatives and eight regional councils. Elections in southeastern Somali state will take place in August. Final results were scheduled to announce on July 8.