Ethiopia denies talks with detained Addis Ababa councillors

Mar 3, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia denied a paper published by the Reporter stating the board was to talk to the detained councillors of the Addis Ababa City Council by quoting one of the interim coordinating committee members of the peoples councillors of Addis Ababa.

Based on the application the committee submitted to the board for the second time, the board called the peoples councillors for March 2, 2006 to verify the signatures of those councillors willing to take the administration as well as deliberate on process of handover of the administration, according to the statement the board sent to the official ENA on Friday.

The board said it had already held discussion with the coordinating committee on 27 February, 2006 on issues to be raised concerning the handover of the administration in the forthcoming discussion.

The coordinating committee on the occasion suggested that the number of volunteer councillors might increase if it is possible to get the decision and signatures of those in detention by presenting the issue to pertinent executives of prison, the board said.

The board nevertheless said the report by the Reporter which quoted one of the councillors, who attended the discussion, as saying the board chairman said on the occasion that a team drawn from the board and the coordinating committee would head to the prison to talk to the detained councillors concerning the subject in question was far from the truth.

The fact that the issue was not raised at the discussion held on March 2 2006 was indicative of the fabrication of the report by the stated newspaper, the board said.

The board said it has no mandate to talk to detained people’s councillors elected both for federal and regional parliaments pertaining handover of power.

Deputy Head of the board, Tesfaye Mengesha said the reports released by foreign media via internet in this regard are baseless.

(ENA/ST)