[DEBATE] : (Fwd) Ethiopian scam election

[Patrick Bond]

Ruling party dominates elections

May 19, 2008 Edition 1

ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia's ruling party won nearly all seats in last 
month's local and parliamentary polls that were marred by boycotts and 
accusations of repression, the electoral board said yesterday.

The ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) won 
97% of the vote held on April 13 and April 20, according to the board's 
official data.

The party won more than 3.5 million of the 3.6 million seats contested, 
with clean sweeps in most councils, it said.

"The EPRDF won 38 out of 39 seats in parliament, 137 out of 138 in the 
capital's city council, and among others, all the seats in the sub-city 
and zonal councils in Addis Ababa and SNNPR (Southern Nations, 
Nationalities, and People's Region)," board chief Merga Bekana said.

The board reported a turnout of 93% of 26.3 million eligible voters.

The polls were marred by accusations of repression against opposition 
parties, several of which carried out boycotts.

Around 3.7 million candidates competed for almost as many local council 
and parliamentary seats, but opposition groups only managed to field a 
few thousand contestants.

In a report issued before the polls, New York-based Human Rights Watch 
condemned "systemic patterns of repression and abuse that have rendered 
the elections meaningless in many areas".

Opposition parties won an unprecedented number of parliament's 547 seats 
in 2005 general elections, which the European Union and many observers 
said fell short of international standards.

Around 200 people died in the ensuing unrest, which erupted after 
allegations that Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's party had rigged the 
ballot. - Sapa-AFP