Parliamentary elections in Ethiopia 2005
The parliamentary elections in Ethiopia in 2005 were the second parliamentary election since the constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia was introduced in 1995 and at the same time the third general parliamentary election in the country.
The Ethiopian elections took place on May 15, 2005 and were organized by the National Electoral Authority of Ethiopia . The elected People's House of Representatives , the lower house of the Ethiopian Parliament and the parliaments of the various regions of the respective peoples.
Under pressure from the international community, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi stated that the elections were proof that democracy was a reality within this multi-ethnic and multicultural nation. International election observers from the United States of America and the European Union were present. The turnout was 90 percent.
Organization of the parties
Ahead of the elections, the party joined Movement for Democracy and Social Justice: Rainbow Ethiopia , the All-Amhara People's Organization , the Gesamtäthiopische unit Organization and the United Ethiopian Democratic Party / Medhin the electoral alliance of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy together (Qinijit). This group advocated re-centralization of the country and had its party base primarily under the Amhars and the Gurage .
The Ethiopian Federal Social Democratic Party , the Ethiopian Democratic Unity Party , the Democratic Alliance of the Peoples of South Ethiopia and the Oromo National Congress founded the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces , which aimed at further federalization of the country and found supporters mainly among the Oromo. This opposition movement was joined by eleven other parties in 2003, including the historically important Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party and the All-Ethiopian Socialist Movement, as well as a rebel organization, the Afar Revolutionary Democratic United Front .
Furthermore, numerous rebel organizations, including the Oromo Liberation Front and the National Liberation Front for the Ogaden , founded the Alliance for Freedom and Democracy .
Furthermore, parties loyal to the government - such as the Democratic United Front of the Peoples Sheko and Majangir and the Democratic Movement of the Argobba Nationality , as well as opposition groups such as the Federal Democratic Oromo Movement , stood for election as individual parties without alliances with other parties.
The coalition of the Revolutionary Democratic Front of the Ethiopian Peoples themselves, which has ruled uninterruptedly since 1991 - consisting of the National Democratic Movement of the Amhars , the Democratic Organization of the Oromo People , the leading People's Liberation Front of Tigray and the Democratic Movement of the South Ethiopian Peoples - this time again ran as an electoral alliance.
Election campaign
The election campaign was generally considered free, each movement was given the same amount of time in the media for election campaigns. Mostly, however, it came to violent language of the candidates, which greatly differed from the protocol (such as the comparison with the Tutsis - Rwandan genocide ). The campaign for the general election in May 2005 was more open and free than any previous election campaign.
Panel discussions between the representatives of the various parties, in which the government and the opposition participated equally, were organized by non-governmental organizations together with state universities and broadcast on radio and television. The state and private press reported widely on the election campaign disputes.
Results
The opposition received a total of 30 percent of the parliamentary seats. The distribution of seats for all parties was as follows:
Post-election riots
According to the EU election observers, the election itself was largely peaceful. When it became apparent across the country that the ruling Revolutionary Democratic Front of the Ethiopian Peoples would lose the election, the government stopped the official vote counting and declared itself the winner. However, after the opposition accused the government of fraudulent elections, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi announced a month-long ban on public gatherings in the capital Addis Ababa. He took over general command of the military and the federal police, imposed curfews and banned all demonstrations across the country.
During protests against the government in early June, at least 36 people were killed by police forces and hundreds were injured. Thousands of the mostly young demonstrators were locked up in camps outside the capital Addis Ababa.
After the election results were published in June 2005, violent unrest broke out in the capital, Addis Ababa , in the course of which up to 96 people were killed. Furthermore, according to human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch, many opposition politicians and journalists have been arrested. In July 2006 the situation had calmed down again; the arrested opposition politicians were pardoned and released in 2007. Nevertheless, visitors to the country were advised to stay away from demonstrations.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Der Tagesspiegel : High voter turnout in Ethiopia
- ^ Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung : Ethiopia: From stability factor to trouble spot? Domestic and foreign policy developments after the 2005 election (PDF, accessed on January 16, 2014)
- ↑ Official election results for the House of Peoples' Representatives ( Memento of July 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF), electionsethiopia.org.
- ↑ epo.de: Ethiopia: repetition of the election not excluded
- ↑ Security advice from the Foreign Office ( Memento from August 27, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
