Ethiopia: Out of 76 political parties 13 register for forthcoming polls
ADDIS ABABA, Feb 10, 2005 (The Reporter) — At a time when registration of candidates in the forthcoming elections is four days away, 13 out of the 76 registered political parties, including the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), have registered their candidates so far.
Yesterday, the EPRDF registered its last candidates in Addis Ababa. According to reports from the National Electoral Board, 11 other political parties are in the process of presenting their candidates for registration.
The chairman of the Ethiopian Democratic Forces Union, Dr Merar Gudina, have told our reporter that his party is going to register its candidate in the next few days.
According to the Ethiopian National Electoral Board, out of the 76 political parties registered in the country, 18 have a broad-based national structure while the rest have a regional structure.
According to our sources, even if some coalition parties, like the EPRDF, the Ethiopian Democratic Forces Union, Coalition for Unity and Democracy incorporate four or more political parties within the coalition, not more than half of the registered political parties will take part in the forthcoming elections.
Mr Mekonen Wendimu, an official from the NEB, says the board believes that all registered political parties will participate in the forthcoming elections.
He said when parties get the registration certificates, their main objective is to take part in elections. However, he said some might not take part in the elections, due to their internal problems, but the number should not be exaggerated to that extent.
Meanwhile, the EPRDF have registered 161 candidates for the House of People’s Representatives and the Regional Councils and 11 other parties are in the process of registering their candidates.
The majority of the candidates registered on the EPRDF ticket are new and are said to be holders of first degrees. Tefera Walwa, Minister of capacity building, who lost in the last election, is one of the EPRDF’s candidate to the forthcoming elections. Mrs Senkinesh Alemu, minister of state for mines, Mr Getachew Belay, minister for revenue collection, and Mrs Genet Zewde, minister of education, are also the EPRDF’s candidates.
Material provided by the BBC Monitoring Service.