Ethiopia’s Meles refutes claims of election fraud
Sept 11, 2005 (ADDIS ABABA) — Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said the findings of the electoral body that probed into alleged irregularities in the third Ethiopian National Election show that in the overwhelming majority of cases, there were no serious irregularities.
In an interview he gave to CNN television network on Saturday, Meles said some people had alleged there were fiddling in the elections and the answer to that was to have a transparent investigation into these alleged fiddling.
“We have had such very transparent investigations in the presence of international observers.”
Meles said the National Election Board has already started reporting on its findings, and added that in some cases, the investigation teams have found some irregularities and in those cases, they have decided that there should be reruns.
The Prime Minister noted that the majority of those cases have been seats won by the opposition.
Asked if the violence that followed the election was necessary, Prime Minister Meles said, it was not necessary for us to face a quasi insurrectionary movement in parts of this town.
“…Everybody agrees that until Polling Day, the conduct of the elections were exemplary by any standard,” Meles said, and added that some had concerns about the counting.
“We had by then made it abundantly clear that those concerns will be addressed through investigations in a transparent manner in the presence of foreign observers. And therefore, there was no cause for insurrectionary activity,” Meles said.
Meles said there are those friends who criticize or allege that there was excessive use of force, adding, that has to be established by an independent investigation which is going to put in place.
Meles said, “…people have to understand that this is a country that has never had democracy in its history. This is an emerging democracy. … We can’t be surprised when we have such rough stretches. The issue is how we overcome them and that is the main point.”
The May 15 polls, which were the third multiparty elections since Prime Minister Meles Zenawi ousted the brutal regime of Mengistu Haille Mariam in 1991, have been a subject of fierce contest between the ruling party and the opposition, both of whom have claimed victory
(ENA/ST)