Ethiopian parliament lifts immunity of boycotting opposition MPs
Oct 11, 2005 (ADDIS ABABA) — Ethiopia’s lawmakers voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to lift the parliamentary immunity of about 100 opposition MPs who are boycotting the legislature to protest disputed May elections.
By a vote of 336 to 35 with two abstentions, parliament adopted a ruling party bill that rescinds the immunity of any elected member of parliament refusing to take his or her seat in the assembly, an AFP correspondent said.
Several opposition MPs who have decided not to boycott the legislature walked out of the hall before the vote, saying they did not want to participate in what they called a “political game” intended to harass and intimidate their colleagues.
The bill was proposed by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Front (EPRDF) on the second day of a new parliament session that is being boycotted by most elected lawmakers from the country’s main opposition group.
Meles urged passage of the law, repeating claims that boycotting MPs from the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) are trying to subvert the constitution and overthrow his government with continued protests against alleged massive fraud in the May 15 polls.
“They want to use their immunity as members of parliament to crash the constitution,” said Meles, who was confirmed for a new five-year term as prime minister when parliament re-opened on Monday.
“Immunity is used to protect the constitution not to dismantle it,” he said. “Therefore this immunity must be removed for the sake of peace and tranquility within the country.”
On Monday, only eight of the CUD’s 109 elected lawmakers turned up for the opening of the legislature and parliament speaker Tashome Toga said the new law “concerns all the people who have not taken up their seats.”
Beyene Petros, leader of the CUD’s main opposition ally, the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF) whose elected members have largely taken their seats in parliament, was among those who refused to vote on the bill.
“This house can remove the immunity of people if they commit a crime, but this is something else,” he said after walking out. “This is a political game to punish these people for not taking their seats.
“This is a very bad moment for our history,” Beyene told reporters.
Members of the CUD affected by the law could not immediately available for comment.
After losing the election, the CUD and UEDF accused Meles’ party of stealing the election through massive fraud and said they would boycott parliament unless a unity government was formed to oversee new polls.
Protests over alleged irregularities sparked deadly violence in the capital in June when police opened fire on crowds during demonstrations and the opposition has vowed to stage mass rallies to press its demands.
(AFP/ST)