The reformist government of Ethiopia has given its word to the people of Ethiopia in particular and the international community, in general, to make credible polls by 2020. The Board has undertaken several tasks over the last 22 months of the reform. This includes, but not limited to, reforming the organization’s structure, amending the election law and finally revealing the tentative schedule of the election-i.e., Aug. 16,2020. The Ethiopian Herald had sat down with the Board’s Communications Advisor, Soliyana Shimelis. Here are excerpts of the discussion.
The incumbent has pledged fair and democratic elections; can you deliver per the standard to fulfill the pledges?
Soliyana: We have been working on the assumption that we are going to deliver a better quality election. Or put it another way, we have been working to make the entire process and the outcome of the election acceptable by the international standards.
We also hope to make the election more credible, fair and participatory than its predecessors. But, in doing so is not the sole responsibility of the electoral board; it does require the participation and contribution of all actors. A democratic election is a product of collective efforts. We have been trying our best to deliver a democratic election.
The upcoming election is not just an ordinary election; it is a transnational (transitional?) election which we take it seriously. There had been lots of complaints, and problems over the previous elections. Hence, we [the board] and other actors must be cautious and conscious to do a better job this time. And we will seize the opportunity for a democratic transition to take a strong footing. Given the short period before the election and the extensive nature of the reform agenda, we cannot perfect the preparations. All in all, we are trying on our side to make the election a success.
For this reason, we have been closely engaging with other actors; such as, political parties and media organizations through trainings and consultations. The media engagement does not only include dealing with the election agenda but it also finds other areas of cooperation. The Board has been offering continuous capacity building pieces of training to the media as far as responsible election reporting is concerned. What is more, we have a joint council with political parties to brainstorm on key concerns and the way forward. The success of the election rests on the collective actions of all indeed.
You said the time in between the pre-election period and [the tentative election date] is short. Do you think you can meet deadlines?
We are racing against time. The challenge is that the reforms have been launched very late. Had the reforms been launched years ago, we would have had enough time. The incumbent needs more time to ensure peace and order. Political parties have limited time to engage with their voters. And the people have limited time to learn about the political parties and make up their minds. No matter what, we will work day in, day out to meet the deadlines.
We are trying to utilize the time properly and the meet reforms must be met.
Some people cast doubt on the impartiality of the lower structure of the Board, are you aware of this?
The board has two structures; one is the headquarters and the others are the regional officers. We assume that the board at the headquarters is impartial. We are also working diligently to ensure the impartiality of the regional officers. To bring about the optimal effect of this, we are assigning people from the headquarters to work in the regional offices.
The problem is that some people are still confusing the different structures. There are differences among the Board and the election structures that go to the grassroots. When it comes to the Board, I can say that it is impartial. And the election structure is quite different, and it includes election officers and that would be put in place as the election calendar is kicked off.
There had been hunger strikes by dozens of political parties in protest of the electoral Board; did they have a grain of truth?
Not at all, it is very disappointing to receive questions about this time and time again. It is up to the political parties to explain what they were protesting about and set their concerns about the law. Our recommendation concerning the civil workers not to participating in the election had already been reversed by the parliament. The other complaint the parties lodged was that they need to get 10, 000 founding members to establish a nation-wide party. It is a very little number. A 10,000 founding member is not in any way a burden for political parties; it is even less than one thousand per region.
If a national party does meet the number, how will it be called a national party after all? In our opinion, the number rather allows them to nominate and mobilize people.
By the way, these are political parties that feel comfortable about the previous laws and their minimum requirements. It had not been just the board’s recommendation only; it was also the public that has backed the requirements. We would have appreciated if the conversations had moved on to what kind of directive we shall have and what kind of framework shall we set.
You are planning to support the election with software; can you tell us more about it?
This technology and the issue of the election are very complicated than people think. You can introduce technology to elections; you can also use it during the voter registration phase, voting phase, and also in the result management phase. In our case, we have been conducting a study on what kind of technology can we introduce to each phase, and identify how to make the result faster and accurate using technology. But that is yet to be decided, for the time being, we are going to introduce technology for the early phases due to time constraint and finance.
The government is getting supports for the election from various bodies; does it have an impact on the outcome?
We are not receiving financial assistance from different donors; it is the government that deals with financial and budgetary issues. The government is receiving financial aid from external donors to conduct a better election. This is in line with other development supports. And it is no different from the kind of supports the government obtains from partners.
There are staggering numbers of political parties, how is the board dealing with the registration process?
Some political parties are registered and some others are not. As long as political parties meet the requirements, these are not going to be a problem for the board. Confrontation does arise between parties, but we will sort it out as long as they come with all the criteria.
The Ethiopian Herald: Thank you.
Soliyana: My pleasure.
The Ethiopian Herald Friday 7 February 2020
BY DESTA GEBREHIWOT
