US lawmaker urges Ethiopian opposition not to boycott parliament

ADDIS ABABA, Aug 15 (AFP) — A leading US Congresssman urged Ethiopia’s opposition not to put into effect threats to boycott parliament in protest against alleged fraud in May’s general elections.

Visiting Republican representative Chris Smith said the opposition would be better off voicing its views within the parliamentary system than from the outside, the state-run news agency and opposition officials said.

“Opposition parties can play a positive role by actively participating in debates and other mutual concerns of the country peacefully,” the official Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) quoted him as saying.

“That is why multi-party or two-party systems are so good,” said Smith, the chairman of the House International Relations Committee’s panel on Africa and human rights, according to ENA.

Smith, on the first leg of a two-nation Africa trip that will also take him to Sudan, spoke to ENA after separate meetings with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and opposition officials in which the disputed May 15 polls were a major focus, it said.

After peaceful polling marked by massive turnout, the electoral process deteriorated in June when preliminary results showing a ruling party victory sparked protests over alleged fraud that led to deadly violence in the capital.

Final results released this month confirmed a win for Meles’ ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) but the opposition has refused to accept the returns.

Instead, they have proposed the formation of a national unity government to oversee new polls, a suggestion rejected outright by the EPRDF which has said acceptance would be anathema to democracy and violate the will of the voters.

In the absence of a power-sharing resolution, the opposition has threatened to boycott parliament, where it won significant gains that the ruling party has conceded, including all 23 seats in Addis Ababa.

Opposition party officials said they were disappointed by Smith’s calls for them to drop protests over alleged fraud, complaining the congressman did not understand the situation in Ethiopia, a key US ally in the region.

“We have realized Congressman Smith had not been well informed of the situation,” said Beyene Petros, vice chairman of the opposition United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF).

“By implication, his message was asking us to join (parliament) as the opposition with more seats than we had before and prepare ourselves for the next elections,” Beyene told AFP.

He said hoped Smith would convey the opposition’s concerns to Meles in follow-up meetings in the coming days.