Parliamentary elections in Ethiopia in 1957

The parliamentary elections in Ethiopia in 1957 represented the first direct elections to the People's House of Representatives , the lower house of the Ethiopian Parliament . It was the first nationwide general election in the history of Ethiopia, which at that time the Empire was.

Electoral system

The 210 members of the People's House of Representatives , the lower house of the Ethiopian Parliament , which had been created in accordance with the constitution of the Ethiopian Empire of 1955 , were elected. All residents over 21 years of age were entitled to vote, people who had been deprived of their civil rights and prisoners were denied the right to vote. The country was elected according to majority voting, and the country was divided into constituencies of 200,000 voters, each of whom sent two members to parliament. Cities with at least 30,000 inhabitants formed their own constituency, but they only sent one representative, and the city was entitled to an additional representative for every additional 50,000 inhabitants.
Candidates had to be at least 25 years old, have had Ethiopian citizenship since birth, be considered a “righteous citizen” and have at least 50 eligible voters. In addition, they had to show land to the value of 1000 Birr in the constituency or other property or an income to the value of 2000 Birr, other data speak of 850 or 1700 Birr. 250 birr had to be presented as bail in order to be accepted as a candidate. The number of potential candidates was significantly reduced by this restriction of the right to stand as a candidate: 1,000 birr (around 400 US dollars at the rate at that time , around 3,630 US dollars in today's purchasing power) corresponded to the monthly salary of a central government minister, the average income was 150 Birr per year.

Election process and election results

The elections took place over several weeks from September 12th to October 10th. There are z. Some of the figures differ greatly from one another: With a total population of around 20 million, around 3.7 million voters were registered, the theoretical number of people entitled to vote is given as 6-10 million. Around 500 - 600 candidates stood for the 210 seats, around 2.5 million - 3,015,206 votes cast were counted. Political parties were not allowed, so all candidates had to run as independents .

After the election

Parliament met for the first time on November 1, 1957, at which time no results were available for 20 constituencies. The first elected parliament has not yet developed into a real representative body. The minimum property requirements and the cost of the election campaign, which could amount to several thousand birr and had to be borne by each candidate alone, ensured that the majority of the MPs came from the upper class. Mainly government employees and (around a quarter) nobles were represented in parliament, around 15% - 20% of the MPs during the time of the monarchy were Muslims. With a monthly salary of the equivalent of 300 US dollars (around 2,720 US dollars in today's purchasing power), they were all very well paid. Political power initially remained in the hands of Emperor Haile Selassie . Over the years, however, parliament developed into a political power factor, even if it represented the interests of the various political groups more than the people.

literature

• Dieter Nohlen, Bernhard Thibaut, Michael Krennerich (Eds.): Elections in Africa: A Data Handbook. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 978-0-19-829645-4 ( partly online )
• Michael Cowen, Liisa Laakso (Eds.): Multi-party elections in Africa. Palgrave MacMillan, 2003, ISBN 978-0-31-229486-1 ( partly online )
• Edmond J. Keller: Revolutionary Ethiopia: From Empire to People's Republic. Indiana University Press, 1989, ISBN 978-0-25-320646-6 ( partly online )
• Thomas P. Ofcansky, Thomas P. Ofcansky, Chris Prouty (Eds.): Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Scarecrow, 2004, ISBN 978-0-81-084910-5 ( partly online )

supporting documents

1. ^ ^{A b} Dieter Nohlen, Bernhard Thibaut, Michael Krennerich (eds.): Elections in Africa: A Data Handbook. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 978-0-19-829645-4 , p. 375
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Michael Cowen, Liisa Laakso (ed.): Multi-party elections in Africa. Palgrave MacMillan, 2003, ISBN 978-0-31-229486-1 , p. 62
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Thomas P. Ofcansky, Thomas P. Ofcansky, Chris Prouty (eds.): Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Scarecrow, 2004, ISBN 978-0-81-084910-5 , p. 132
4. ^ ^{A b c} Edmond J. Keller: Revolutionary Ethiopia: From Empire to People's Republic. Indiana University Press, 1989, ISBN 978-0-25-320646-6 , pp. 87f
5. ↑ Dieter Nohlen, Bernhard Thibaut, Michael Krennerich (Eds.): Elections in Africa: A Data Handbook. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 978-0-19-829645-4 , p. 377
6. ↑ Thomas P. Ofcansky, Thomas P. Ofcansky, Chris Prouty (Eds.): Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Scarecrow, 2004, ISBN 978-0-81-084910-5 , p. 133
7. ↑ Dieter Nohlen, Bernhard Thibaut, Michael Krennerich (Eds.): Elections in Africa: A Data Handbook. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 978-0-19-829645-4 , p. 373
8. ^ Robert L. Hess: Ethiopia the Modernization of Autocracy Cornell University Press, 1970, ISBN 978-0-80-140573-0 , p. 150
9. ↑ Michael Cowen, Liisa Laakso (ed.): Multi-party elections in Africa. Palgrave MacMillan, 2003, ISBN 978-0-31-229486-1 , p. 62