Ethiopians’ election test of Abi when voting in the first “free” poll

The last time Berhanu Nega ran for public office was in 2005, and he performed so well that he was eventually jailed. Then the Revolutionary Democratic Party, which ruled the Ethiopians, was confronted with strong opposition, declared a state of emergency, fabricated the result, threw Bohinu, and was elected as the prison of the mayor of Addis Ababa.

Belhanu, 62, was the main opposition candidate in Monday’s parliamentary elections and was called Ethiopia’s first truly “free and fair” poll.

The vote will be the first electoral test for Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize winner Abiy Ahmed since the hopeful reform protests came to power in 2018.

Although some opposition politicians say this process has serious flaws, Abi hopes it can save the reputation that has been severely damaged by recent events. civil war, Famine and violence were brewing in the northern area of ​​Tigray.

“What’s at stake is the existence of this country,” said Berhanu, a professor of economics, who had been identified as a terrorist and sentenced to death. absence During the exile, it refers to the ethnic violence that has erupted not only in Tigray but also across the country since Abi took office.

Violent conflicts among several of the 80 ethnic groups in Ethiopia have displaced 2 million people, excluding Tigray, and may tear up an ancient country of 114 million people whose ethnic divisions are often compared to the previous ones. Yugoslavia.

Berhanu, like Abiy, believes that Ethiopia is a more unified country, and he believes that elections can be used as a reset to alleviate the tensions he attributed partly to the election itself. “I don’t care much about who wins, I care more about the process,” he said. “If we can conduct credible elections, I think this may be a new beginning for this country.”

Other opposition parties do not agree with this view. They believe that the polls have been seriously damaged and that the Welfare Party that Abbey recently established will not lose.

A few outstanding Potential challenger All in prison, and many political parties are boycotting an exercise that will not be held in certain parts of the country (including Tigray) because they are considered too unstable. According to the Chatham Institute, the think tank, of the 547 parliamentary seats, at least 102 seats, mainly from three regions — Tigray, Somalia and Harari — will not be contested.

“This will be an election similar to Joseph Stalin’s time, when he told the Russian people’you vote, we count’,” said Merrera Gudina, chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress, who resisted voting. Therefore, Abi’s party is expected to sweep Oromia, the largest area with a population of 35 million, although Prime Minister Oromia himself is considered by many locals to have betrayed the interests of his region in order to achieve a more concentrated state.

Opposition parties, including Berhanu’s Ethiopian Civil Social Justice Organization, claimed that posters had been torn up and supporters were treated roughly, although Berhanu stated that he did not want any direct manipulation, such as votes. Unlike the last election in 2015, EPRDF “won” 100% of parliamentary seats, and he predicted that the opposition party will get a lot of representation.

However, Belete Molla, chairman of the nationalist group Amhara National Movement Party, said that the election was still full of fighting spirit, “full of all kinds of illegal restrictions, intimidation, arrests and all kinds of violence.” “The Welfare Party has been spending a lot of government funds on political party elections, forcing people to use government aid programs,” said Belet, referring to the withdrawal of subsidized goods such as fertilizers by people who reportedly did not register to vote.

Approximately 37 million people registered after the slow start, and a second slight postponement is required after the controversial decision not to participate in the 2020 elections due to Covid-19.

The state-appointed chairman of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, Daniel Becquer, said that despite the difficulties, the elections were more open than those held during the 27 years of EPRDF’s rule. “This is a fairly credible election process and a step towards better elections in the future,” he said. “But the overall political environment poses a challenge to completely free and fair elections.”

A few days before voting on Monday, Abi returned to his birthplace of Oromiyajima City to participate in a rally to show his lasting popularity. There, it is difficult to find anyone who does not support him or the war against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, which when leading the EPRDF alliance blamed it on decades of repression. Abi’s supporters believe that after troops loyal to the TPLF attacked the Federal Army’s Northern Command in November, he had no choice but to invade Tigray.

“The problem is with the TPLF government, it’s very bad,” said 39-year-old housewife Nuritu Siraj, her eyes were dull every time she mentioned “our Abiy”. Wearing a headscarf with the Welfare Party light bulb logo on her head, she said of the violence in Tigray that massacres, rapes and robberies were common there: “This is not a war, this is a peacekeeping operation.”

As tens of thousands of supporters gathered, some of them riding horses, Abi realized his vision of unity, which was jealously defended by minorities such as Somalia, Afar and his own Oromo Parts of its own autonomy are still unpopular. “Our unity will not destroy our diversity, and our diversity will not distract our unity,” he said.

Even the prime minister seems to be suppressing expectations for the upcoming polls. “This will be the country’s first attempt to conduct free and fair elections,” he said in less clear support.

No matter how smooth this attempt is, many of Ethiopia’s thorny problems—the most pressing problems of all the fierce wars in Tigray—are still difficult to solve. “This is a critical moment; we are at a critical crossroads,” Merella said.