Yesterday, I participated in the Chatham House Africa’s virtual event on Ethiopia’s Elections: Context, Challenges, Prospects & Pluralism. It was very insightful and eye-opening to say the least.
Moderator: Bob Dewar
Panelists:
- Dr. Gedion Timothewos – Ethiopia’s Attorney General
- Birtukan Midekssa – Head of National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE)
- Prof. Beyene Petros – Former Member of Peoples’ House of Representatives
- Prof. Berhanu Nega – Ethiopia’s Opposition leader & Founding Chair of Ethiopian Economic Association.
Key issues discussed
1) Tigray Region/state will not participate in the elections because of state of emergency in the area following the recent war.
2) NEBE was put to task to explain the strategies they have put in place to ensure a level playing ground, security during the electioneering period and observers.
3) Local and international CSOs will be engaged as observers and providing civic education to the populace.
4) US government and European Union (EU) are some of the international actors who have already been invited by NEBE as elections observers.
5) Voter registration will commence on 15th February and will last for 15 days. Analysts observed that the overlap between voter registration and political campaigns may lead to politicization of the registration process. However, the head of NEBE noted that it is beneficial because politicians and their parties will mobilize their supporters to ensure more people register as voters.
6) NEBE promised to create an enabling environment for political parties to operate on a level playground.
7) NEBE expects at least 50 million Ethiopians to register as voters.
8) The electoral board is planning to have in place 50,000 polling stations and 633 constituency offices across Ethiopia.
9) The National Security Task-force will introduce acceptable international standards on security to abide by during the elections.
10) Free & equal access to media was highlighted as one of the key issues that needs to be addressed during the elections in Ethiopia.
11) The Attorney General of Ethiopia Dr. Gedion Timothewos denied claims that there are political prisoners released by the courts but kept in detention by the police.
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