Eligible citizens will go to a general election in six months. The upcoming election, in fact, is decisive to the country that has been undertaking reforms for almost a year and a half.
The most crucial point, at this juncture, is that the election’s result must be acceptable, fair and democratic by anyone’s standards. Of course, democracy is a process. But, this round of election is an opportunity to lay a firm base of democracy.
Over the past period of the reform, the incumbent led by Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed has executed remarkable jobs as far as election is concerned. The appointment of a previous senior politician and ardent proponent of justice, Birtukan Mideksa, as chairperson of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) proves this true. Her expertise and experience is hoped to make a reasonable difference for the credibility of the election.
However, all stakeholders of the election, the government, political parties, civil society organizations, religious leaders and elders, activists, the media, and what have you, should start flexing their muscles to enable democratic and free election to take place in Ethiopia.
The roles of these entities are huge, particularly in finding middle ground in which all parties can work together, seeing the bigger picture. A common ground that encourages contesting parties and individuals exercise the maximum restraint before, during and after the election days.
NEBE and the chairperson alone cannot and will not take the election through the right track. Backlog of works have still remained undone. We must work in no time.
The Ethiopian Herald December 20/2019
