For the establishments of social net works and institutions for Free fair elections in Africa
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Ethiopian opposition says electoral body blocks party registration | Reuters
ADDIS ABABA
- Share this
(Reuters) - Ethiopia's sole opposition member of parliament said on Friday the country's electoral board had turned down all four election logos his party had submitted, preventing it from registering for the May election.
Girma Seifu said his Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) and the board had been haggling over the logo for months.
"From the very beginning, (government) activities have not
been free and fair," Girma said.
"They do not want us to participate. It is a tactic."
Girma said however that the UDJ would not boycott the poll.
No electoral board or government spokesperson was immediately available to comment.
The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, a coalition of four regional parties, has been in power since toppling military dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991.
Dissidents and rights groups say the government routinely cracks down on activists and journalists. The government denies this.
Opposition candidates won an unprecedented 174 out of 547 parliamentary seats in a 2005 election but many did not take them up, saying the vote was rigged, and the violence which followed that poll killed 200 people.
The opposition performed far less well in the 2010 election.
Authorities began registering voters on Friday.
(Reporting by Aaron Maasho; Editing by Duncan Miriri and Louise Ireland)
Monday, December 29, 2014
Ethiopian opposition figure downplays reports of job dismissal - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan
An Ethiopian opposition leader on Sunday dismissed reports alleging he has been fired from his job at the government-run Addis Ababa University.
Local media outlets reported that the leader of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress, Merara Gudina, who chairs also the coalition of opposition parties MEDREK was fired from his academic professorial position.
The reports indicated that Gudina, an associate professor of political science at Addis Ababa University, was fired for his political views and due to the growing popularity he gained among university students in the build-up of the upcoming general elections.
“I haven’t received any letter of dismissal from the University,” Gudina told Sudan Tribune.
However, he claimed that the University has withheld his seven month salary for unknown reason.
“The university didn’t pay my salary since June while other employees were paid,” said Gudina adding “I don’t know why but I am in debate with the concerned bodies to release my salary”
The former MP is known of his democracy-related critics against the ruling party. Referring to the previously-fired opponents, opposition circles say Gudina is most likely to be fired soon.
Recently two opposition members who have been working at Ethiopian Airlines and Commercial Bank of Ethiopia were reportedly fired from their jobs.
Opposition members said their dismissal was politically motivated but government authorities said it was taken on disciplinary administrative measures.
International right groups are accusing the horn of Africa’s nation of tightening crackdown on independent media and opposition members ahead of the polls slated for May 2015.
In October, Amnesty International accused the Ethiopian government of illegally detaining over 5,000 members of the Oromo ethnic group, over the past four years to squash political dissent.
According to Amnesty, the detainees are accused of supporting the Oromo Liberation Front, a movement labelled by government as terrorist entity.
Ethiopia has repeatedly denied allegations of illegal detention and harassment, describing it as fabricated accusations aiming to tarnish image of the country.
The country’s electoral board this week said the country is prepared to conduct a democratic, free and fair election.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)