Leader seen by US as bulwark against extremism heads for third decade in power
By Daniel Howden, Africa Correspondent
Monday, 24 May 2010
Meles Zenawi could be heading for a quarter of a century in power in Ethiopia after he claimed his party was set to win elections held yesterday.
The former guerrilla leader whose party has been accused of waging a war against its political opponents in the build up to the vote said that economic growth would assure victory.
As polling stations closed, opposition groups said they were thinking of contesting the results in court after alleged intimidation and vote rigging.
Mr Meles came to power in 1991 when his rebel army overthrew the regime of Haile Mengistu Mariam. Despite indicating that he would not run for re-election, the Ethiopian premier seems set to stay in office for a term similar to those of Africa's "big men" leaders whom he has previously derided.
Its supporters say the Ethiopian government deserves credit for delivering economic development and political stability in the Horn of Africa.
Addis Ababa enjoys strong support from the US, the EU and China including
$820m (£565m) a year in foreign aid. More than two thirds of that comes from
Washington which sees the government as a bulwark against Islamic extremism
in neighbouring Somalia.
Critics, including international human rights organisations, say the ruling
party has turned Ethiopia into a police state, while opposition parties
insist claims of economic growth are inflated and point to the 10 per cent
of the country's people who needed food aid last year. Ethiopia remains one
of the poorest country's on earth.
After voting in Adwa, his hometown in the country's north, the Prime
Minister said that new roads, schools and dams had given Ethiopians hope.
"Imagine a government which has delivered double-digit growth for over seven
years losing an election anywhere on earth," he told Reuters. "It is unheard
of for such a phenomenon to happen."
The main opposition to Mr Meles's Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic
Front (EPRDF) has come from an alliance of opposition parties, Medrek, which
campaigned to oust him from office.
The leader of the opposition bloc, Merera Gudina, said that yesterday's vote
"doesn't look like an election, even by African standards". Medrek observers
were prevented from monitoring the count in the south where they were
expected to make gains, while their officials were being arrested or
intimidated in some areas in the north, he said.
Foreign embassy staff in the country have been barred from monitoring the
poll but the EU has a 170-strong team of observers on the ground.
Provisional results are expected later today but the election board has
until 21 June to announce the official result.
Ethiopia has lived for the last five years in the shadow of its first major
experiment with democracy. Analysts say that the ruling party was unprepared
for the scale of support for opposition parties who swept the capital and
appeared to make strong gains in other regions. When results were announced,
many apparent opposition gains were reversed and anti-government street
protests followed. These were eventually crushed by the security services
with some 200 people killed and thousands of opposition and civil society
activists rounded up and imprisoned.
Opposition leaders were initially sentenced to life in prison and only
released after signing a de facto apology for the unrest. New York-based
monitor Human Rights Watch said in a pre-election report that the government
had waged a "co-ordinated and sustained attack on political opponents,
journalists and rights activists."
While concerns over repression have been mounting, the Obama administration
has continued its predecessor's "quiet diplomacy" approach with Addis Ababa.
This despite a report last year from the US State Department which
highlighted "unlawful killings, torture, beating, abuse and mistreatment of
detainees and opposition supporters by security forces, often acting with
evident impunity."
Senior government positions are dominated by members of the Tigray ethnic
minority who make up 6 per cent of the population but critics who point this
out are routinely accused by the authorities of fomenting ethnic hatred.
Fact file: Birtukan Mideksa
As more than 32 million Ethiopians went to the polls yesterday, one name was
missing from the ballots: The 36-year-old head of Ethiopia's main opposition
party is serving a life term in prison.'s. Arguably the country's most
popular and charismatic politician, the 36-year-old head of Ethiopia's main
opposition party is serving a life term in prison.
A former judge and single mother, she was arrested and charged with treason
along with scores of other government opponents after a disputed election
led to street protests. She spent two years in prison before being released
but was re-arrested at the end of 2008 after supposedly violating the terms
of her pardon.
European Parliament and several US Senators have backed voices in Ethiopia
calling for her immediate release. But the government says her freedom is a
"dead issue".
As Ethiopia awaits the results of a new election Ms Birtukan's comments
before she was sent back to jail still apply: "Ethiopia has many problems,
including a legacy of repression, corruption and mismanagement. The US can
help by using its considerable influence to encourage the government to
negotiate with the opposition."
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