BY MENGESHA AMARE
Ethiopia has conducted five general elections over the last three decades with preparations already in full swing for the upcoming election. Though marred by irregularities and other shortcomings, the previous elections particularly the disputed 2005 poll have attracted huge turnouts.
The country had so far tried to make the past polls a success though having short electoral history compared with other countries of the world though. Unfortunately, the elections turned out to be the opposite.
The polls were not only unfair but also they were uncompetitive. The elections were won landslide by the ruling as the whole system was dominated by those who were exclusively driving the political wheel well.
In fact, elections have never been easy to Ethiopia. And this time, the expectations are high and the risks are too many as the 6th general election comes at a critical time when the country is caught in make-or-break reform. Reversing past tragedies would indeed be a millstone for a country that has seen its fair share of election disputes.
For the country to pass through a democratic culture via conducting fair and free election, the electoral bodies, the civil society, the judiciary, political parties, the media institutions, the electorates and other actors must be adequately erudite, orientated and given awareness in discharging their role towards selection process of their leaders.
Even the body in charge of following up election processes from A to Z should live up to public expectations and country’s fate.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the task the National Ethiopian Election Board is going to carry out ahead is quite enormous. All concerned government organizations, security institutions; courts as well as human right protecting entities must discharge their duties without fear or favor to make a democratic nation.
As part of the solution to a number of election-related problems lies in changing the means of appointing officials, the Ethiopian government restructured National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) and appointed officials taking the full consent of opposition parties into account. This is a promising move pushing the country’s politics steps forward, indeed.
Inevitably, in developing nations like ours disputes and incongruities happen either at pre-election, during or post-election scenarios.
Cognizant of the fact that disparities are inevitable to occur in election processes, recently, a workshop was organized with a view to addressing a range of election related problems.
The conference was organized under the theme, ‘Workshop on electoral dispute resolution,’ and a number of ideas were raised revolving around the questions like ‘what is expected of political parties to make the upcoming election free, fair, credible, a democratic one etc.?
A representative from Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice (EZEMA) said, “We are striving for creating new democratic system in which citizens are evenly swim and legitimately forward ideas, believe in supremacy of thought as well as give priority to governing ideas instead of merely reflecting their own viewpoints.”
“We have to prove the chatter forwarded by foreigners saying, ‘can Ethiopia hold free and fair elections? Is it possible to conduct credible elections in the country which meet internationally recognized standards, false in the upcoming election,” he added.
Basically, specific reforms must be embraced and applied on the ground in order to safeguard voting rights. The Ethiopian constitution stipulates the right to vote in keeping with international legal standards on democracy,” he added.
He further said, “True, the right to vote is fundamental in any democratic state, but an entitlement does not guarantee that right simply by providing for elections.
To say this constitutional right is translated into practical action when electorate, aged-citizens in general, are equally provided with the playground and can tell their preferences through casting their vote without any form of intimidation, duress and right violation.”
If the whole election process is free from all these and the not yet cited irregular actions, no dispute will happen at all. The measures taken earlier regarding NEBE and the courts will send a strong signal that these institutions are taking their roles seriously and will go a long way toward restoring the confidence in the government that many citizens have lost during the previous administration.
According to a participant from EZEMA, as an election is a miscellany process for whom representatives will signify the interest of the mass, it needs to be free, fair and credible. Hence, actors of the electoral process need to vigorously discharge their respective duties and responsibilities in the exercise for an election to be reliable, unrestricted and impartial thereby its outcome or final output would be accepted by all.
A representative from Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) said parties have to work for cultivating a democratic culture as it is the cornerstone for all sorts of change and prosperity in the country.
As learnt from a participant from OLF, the electorates have to be given regular orientation and awareness on the electoral process and the entire system to make them well aware of the ethical considerations of the election to respect others’ rights to be respected. In so doing, no conflict or unnecessary confrontation would occur.
According to him, stakeholders involved in the electoral process can influence the level of voters’ turnout in an election and the actors involved in the process imbibed moral value and transparency in due course of discharging their duties within the system without fear or favor.
As witnessed from experiences drawn so far, even though Ethiopia recognizes voting rights in theory, an examination of what it did in practice paints a different picture. Without a shadow of doubt, the past experience we had has shown that the process faced several challenges as a result of human interference.
Thus, to prevent voter fraud in elections thereby promote democracy and the rule of law across the country, all political parties must be committed to graciously accept the outcome whatever it may be at the end of the day.
All should know that not only did disputes and conflicts relating to elections had an impact on voting rights, but also they had a substantial effect on democracy and national and regional peace and security.
Undeniably, several irregularities were reported at pre-election, during election and post-election processes in Ethiopia as they were casting serious doubts on the electoral system.
Cognizant of the fact that apart from having a domestic impact, the consequences coming out of electoral disputes are important considerations at the transnational level, the government is more committed than ever to conduct credible, fair and democratic elections.
Ethiopia has to garner this golden opportunity, the reform, if it is ready to be one of the democratic countries in the continent in particular and in the world in general.
All country’s efforts would bear fruit as the sources of dispute have been leveled via such an august consultative forum and all contestant political parties expressed readiness to discharge their respective duties and responsibilities.
Since the whole electoral process in many countries particularly those in developing world is vulnerable to fraud and treachery, their electoral system should be deeply reformed.
Besides, a number of areas like management of elections, voting procedures, and resolution of electoral disputes require legal reforms, and these reforms must have a real impact on the ground.
Yes, taking appropriate measures in all stages of the election process is of significantly useful in coming up with a system in which human rights is respected, citizens can cast votes without any form of extortion, respecting all forms of citizens’ rights in general and protecting the fundamental right to vote in particular can prevail. Moreover, bold administration is required to do so in a way that strengthens human rights and nurtures viable democratic culture.
The Ethiopian Herald February 2/2021
