BY ADDISALEM MULAT
With election campaigns kicked off few days ago, Ethiopia is throwing its full weight behind the 6th national election, which is going to be held in June across the nation, to make it free, fair and peaceful. The country is under preparation with a focus on guaranteeing all-embracing public involvement more than ever before.
In fact, Ethiopia is not foreign to holding election. Over the years, the country managed to hold five general polls after the downfall of the Derg regime. The elections according to experts were marred with vote rigging, cheating and widespread frauds. The elections rather were source of grievances and violence backing the country into a corner and becoming one of the major causes of chaos.
This time, the country is trying to turn the page on the electoral process seemingly resolved to make the 6th one a more credible, fair and peaceful election. Electing apolitical and longtime human right activist as head of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia and reviewing draconian election and other laws were among the measures introduced to pave a way for democratic elections.
The upcoming election for many Ethiopian is not about electing their representatives; it is also about changing the political culture. For long, Ethiopia’s politics has inundated with a culture of hatred and unreasoning hostility profoundly cooped up amid the population at large. In earlier times, political parties were not seen making an effort to develop a culture of tolerance and respect despite it is not an overnight process.
However, realizing a successful election does not come easily. There must be determination and commitment from all sides including the general mass to ensure democracy throughout the territory. Particularly, the actions of contesting parties are to play paramount role in making the process peaceful and ethical. In this regard, the Electoral Board is vowing to take firm action against any violations of the election law and disciplines as election campaign started the past few days.
In an exclusive interview, Birtukan Mideksa Chairperson of the National Election Board of Ethiopia gave to EBC in connection with the upcoming election said to be honest, the election preparation is moving in the right direction. If candidates get off track, we will take measures in a short space of time.
“But before taking measures, we will make every effort to familiarize all stakeholders with the dos and don’ts of the election rules and regulations. One thing that has to be very clear is that during election campaign political parties should focus merely on acquainting the whole population with their policies and strategies,” she added.
She went on to say, “Apart from that, candidates should be able to distance themselves from defaming, and spreading hate speech. From another point of view, media outlets ought to play a major role in allocating free broadcast time for all parties. Election observers should as well discharge their duties and responsibilities without taking sides. But if they do their utmost to change the target their licenses will be canceled as fast as possible.”
In the present climate, remedies for potential difficulties have been prepared before the commencement. To this point, IT professionals have been trained and deployed. On top of that whenever candidates come across a certain problem they can give a call right away seeing that we have organized a center. Our professionals are at the ready.
“The thing that differentiates the upcoming election from the previous ones is the fact that the candidates’ registration is carried out utilizing electronic registration system.
Like so many Ethiopians, scholars whom The Ethiopian Herald recently approached for comments agree that previous elections had fall short of credibility and fairness and exacted a much better poll this time.
Asst.Prof. Abebaw Ayalew, Deputy Director of Research and Conservation for Cultural Heritage Authority, is one the scholars seconding the above idea. He said, “In the old days, Elections were getting off the track on numerous occasions. Frankly speaking, it mismatched with the greatness of the people of Ethiopia.
As leaders of the past did not attach importance to a fair and free election, they were seen missing the desired goal from time to time. As their envisioned target was securing foreign aids on the pretext of carrying out democratic elections, the country failed to achieve the desired goal.
To attain the preferred goal, elections must be held fairly and transparently. For example, if some citizens are banned from appropriately casting their votes, we cannot have free and fair elections. Furthermore, there are standards the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia needs to meet earlier, during, and after an election to ensure that it is free and fair.
Dr. Almaw Kifle, a teacher of law and history at Kotebe Metropolitan University also said, “Back in the day, Ethiopia had passed through many ups and downs in connection with elections. The country was not feeling itself against this background. As there were mishaps, most people were not that interested to cast a vote. In the present climate, as much as we can we should leave no stone unturned to carry out free and fair elections.
While the scholars are optimist about the upcoming election, much is needed from all stakeholders to bring the long-awaited dream of free and fair election into reality.
In this regard, contesting parties should design a certain mechanism to calm down their differences. Among other things, instead of adding fuel to the fire, they should move heaven and earth to resolve problems through a round table discussion reasonably and peacefully.
They should as well pull out all the stops to exercise their democratic rights sticking to elections procedures.
As it is impossible to attain the envisioned target through unconstitutional means, contesting parties should make every effort to address their problem through a considerable amount of peaceful means.
If all Ethiopians work in an integrated fashion to ensure peace, democracy, and good governance, the country can get rid of poverty from the face of the country once and for all and turn its dreams into a reality.
In the end, when everything is said and done, parties should prepare themselves to concede defeat and continue contributing to the national wellbeing of the country. In fact this is a usual gesture in highly developed nations. When ballots are counted and a winner is declared after passing through election processes, contesting parties pat each other’s back in a little while. In this way, we will not only conduct our election freely and fairly, we will also turn a page on our years of political culture that have been filled with hatred and defamation. This is a time to make change indeed!
The Ethiopian Herald February 20/2021
