ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi rejected opposition complaints of fraud in yesterday’s national election and said he expected to win on the strength of his economic record.
The EU’s chief observer said voters had turned out in droves. While there were some allegations of irregularities that still needed to be evaluated, the parliamentary vote was “peaceful and calm”.
At the last vote in 2005, violence tore through Addis Ababa when Mr Meles’s ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) declared it had won. Security forces killed 193 protesters and seven policemen also died in violence that damaged the standing of one of the world’s biggest aid recipients.
Gizachew Shiferaw, a leader of the biggest opposition coalition, Medrek, drew swift condemnation from election officials yesterday after he said on state television the vote had not been democratic.
Speaking to journalists as he flew to the capital, Addis Ababa, Mr Meles said once people were in the polling booth they could vote as they pleased and intimidation would not affect the result.
“Imagine a government which has delivered double-digit growth rates for over seven years losing an election anywhere on Earth. It is unheard of for such a phenomenon to happen,” he said.
The opposition felt it had been cheated out of victory five years ago but admits it has little chance of winning this time. It claims this is because the EPRDF has tightened its grip on power and routinely intimidates and jails its critics.
“In the vast majority of polling stations, the elections were well organised,” EU chief observer Thijs Berman said.
Mr Meles became leader of Ethiopia in 1991 when an underdog rebel group led by him ousted a communist regime that killed hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians in a 17-year rule. – (Reuters)