Ethiopians voted Monday in a significant test for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, whose rise to power originally appeared to signal a break with years of authoritarian rule but that has since waged warfare in the Tigray region and whose party has been convicted of election abuses.
The parliamentary election, delayed from this past year, is the centerpiece of the guaranteed reform drive by Abiy, the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner, and he has described the poll as”the nation’s very first effort at free and fair elections.”
One opposition leader said he hoped the election would emerge with just minor problems, but some prominent opposition parties are boycotting the election, notably in the country’s most populous region, Oromia. Other people say they have been prevented from campaigning in a number of parts of the nation.
In over 100 of the country’s 547 constituencies, polls are not even open — either because of the continuing war in the northern Tigray region or logistical difficulties everywhere. No date was set for voting in Tigray’s 38 constituencies. The remainder will vote in September — along with another government probably won’t be formed until that occurs.
Abiy, whose party is widely expected to cement its hold on power, is also facing growing international criticism over the war in Tigray, sparked in part because the area’s now-fugitive leaders objected to Ethiopia postponing the election last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Monday, long lines of voters were seen at some parts of the capital, Addis Ababa, while security was stepped up throughout Africa’s second-most populous country. Autonomous vehicles were parked in key places in the capital. Over 37 million Ethiopians were expected to voteand one noticed the broad range of candidates working.
“Last time we didn’t have an option, but this is totally different,” Girmachew Asfaw said.
But another resident of the capital, who gave only his first name, Samuel, stated he wouldn’t be voting. “two or three years back I would have voted for Abiy, but now there are a whole lot of problems in our country,” he explained.
Abiy’s judgment Prosperity Party, made in 2019 by consolidating groups that constitute the prior ruling coalition, registered 2,432 candidates in the election. The next largest party, Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice, was fielding 1,385 candidates. A total of 47 parties were seeking chairs. Last election results from Monday’s voting are expected within 10 days.
The spirit of the election”is much better in several ways compared to preceding elections,” Abiy said Monday, adding that the nation is”witnessing the air of democracy.”
But opposition groups sounded warnings of election day harassment.
Opposition candidate Berhanu Nega using the Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice celebration told reporters his party had recorded over 200 cases of its election observers being”kicked out” of polling stations or refused access. He said he expected that the problems”don’t reflect the whole procedure.”
Getnet Worku, secretary general of the opposition ENAT celebration, accused Prosperity Party members of campaigning inside polling booths and said five of the party’s agents were detained for several hours, calling it”an issue of intimidation.”
Ethiopia’s election chief, Birtukan Midekssa, told reporters that some election-related issues had been witnessed from the Amhara, Afar and Southern regions with some observers having difficulty in moving around and doing their job, which she called”about” Some resistance candidates also are having difficulty going around, and”this might cause a difficulty in the election process and its outcome, therefore it has to stop immediately.”
Birtukan previously had confessed”serious challenges” but noted that more candidates and parties are more than ever before. “I call on the global community to support Ethiopia on its democratic travel, trying and imperfect though it is,” she wrote in the U.S.-based magazine The National Interest.
Tigray’s former leaders, who are fighting Ethiopian forces and those from neighboring Eritrea, have reported ferocious new battle in recent days. Abiy’s government and the regional one every view the other as illegitimate, and also the war broke out late last year, after Abiy detained the area’s forces of attacking a military base.
Ethiopia’s defense forces have predicted recent fighting challenging because of the rough terrain. Thousands of civilians are killed and famine has started as observers warn that the battle is getting to be a protracted guerrilla war.
Meanwhile, outbreaks of ethnic violence have killed hundreds of people in the Amhara, Oromia and Benishangul-Gumuz areas in recent months.
“We want a government that brings us peace, unity and that is going to stop the killing anywhere, and we need to be pulled out from these ethnic divisions,” voter Desalgn Shume said.
Global concern was growing about the election. The U.S. has stated it is”gravely concerned about the environment under these upcoming elections are to be kept,” along with also the European Union said it will not observe the vote after its orders to import communications gear were refused.
In reaction, Ethiopia said outside observers”are neither essential nor needed to certify the credibility of an election,” although it’s since welcomed observers deployed by the African Union.
The United Nations secretary-general has noted the”challenging” environment and cautioned against acts of violence.
