BY WOSSENSEGED ASSEFA
The day is Monday, June 21, 2021. It is a unique day for Ethiopia because more than 37 million voters are headed to the polling stations to cast their votes. Like every other voter, I woke up early in the morning on this special day, switched on my TV and saw different channels broadcasting the voting process in different areas of the country. Then I took my voters’ card and left my house for the polling station where I was registered to vote. When I got there, I could not believe what I saw. There were a lot of voters lined up at the station; young and old, men and women, all determined to cast their votes believing that their vote would make a difference. Seeing all those people present and determined to vote created an ecstatic feeling in my heart. Despite the long process that took place at the station, many people were determined and waited patiently for their turn. Despite the heat of the sun and the sluggish voting process in the tents, the voters stood firmly and waited for the chance to cast their votes. Some voters, whose houses were nearby the station, have even brought out chairs to sit on for themselves and others and eagerly waited for their turn.
I believe one of the reasons there was a great number of voter turnouts that day is due to the fact that the majority of our population has accepted the electoral board as a credible institution and hence it has accepted its rule of the game. The voters trust the board to correctly understand and count their actual votes, and this belief strengthens the institution and its role in the game as well. This principle also applies to any other institution. For example, the elected parties will have the ability to join the parliaments and Addis Ababa City Council, which are institutions as well. Hence, citizens must accept the results and cooperate with the parties when they assume power. This will help develop our institutions and harbor institutional cultures in our country. Consequently, our institutional systems will stop depending on individuals for survival and become a strong body on their own so that no matter who joins those institutions, their foundational principles will not alter.
Despite the hopeful things I noticed taking place at the polling stations, I have also observed that some international media agencies such as Al Jazeera reported that the Ethiopian people were holding elections amid a tension filled environment. Aside from their reports, the actual fact on the ground was that the atmosphere was very peaceful, to the extent that after voting, the voters went on to plant saplings in their respective neighborhoods. Such kinds of contradictory reports from huge media corporates like Al Jazeera made me doubt whether they are a reliable source of information and I wondered how much of the facts they have been hiding from the international community while reporting the news for several years.
Aside from that though, if we are to be entirely honest, it might take us four or five more elections to attain a free, fair and democratic election process. This is due to the fact that an election process is quite expensive in terms of the level of knowledge it requires, the process of informing and educating the society about the significant elements of the election and many more issues. Therefore, it is mandatory to educate the voters so that they will know and understand the differences in the policies of each party and identify whom they are choosing in order to have a perfect democratic election.
In addition, a huge amount of budget is required for the competing parties to hold a rally in different areas of the country and to advertise their policies and strategies on different media outlets including print media, television channels, radio channels and many more. Hence, democracy by itself is highly expensive.Since democracy is very expensive; a true democratic transition of power will take time. However, regardless of this idea, the voters have lined up believing that their votes will make a difference despite the outcome of the results and have taken the election very seriously.
As an Ethiopian, I know that processions have become a common part of our lives because we stand in line to get transportation services, we stand in line to get sugar and oil from our respective kebele administrations and we even stand in line to pay our bills for electricity and water supplies. However, what makes that day’s procession different from the rest is that it gets to define and alter how the other processions will continue for the next five years, what kind of image they will have and whether or not they will cease gradually. I believe that this is precisely one other reason as to why our society is determined to vote in today’s elections. This is also why I stood in line with a great delight to vote for my ideal party and its respective candidate today.
Unlike what I witnessed in the elections prior to this one, where the government used to deploy soldiers and military tanks on the streets of our cities with the aim of terrorizing the voters, I believe what I saw on Monday is the very first step of a journey of abandoning a coercive apparatus system and establishing a path for the development for our political culture. The elections held prior to this one were held while the governing body terrorized its citizens when they went out to vote for their ideal candidates. But on this election, there was no room for such methods in the elections. Instead, voters were encouraged to plant saplings and take care of their neighborhoods after voting. Somehow, the smell of peaceful transition is already in the air, but as I stated earlier, the perfection of this democratic process takes time. It is said, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” and this election process therefore could be taken as a foundation for the development of our political culture and the first step towards a true and ideal democratic system in our country.
Although I can’t say that a perfect democratic election was held last Monday, as a political science student and as one who has studied democratic transitions, I believe we have left a legacy for the millions of upcoming voters who will join the voters’ group in the next election. The fact that we were able to vote willingly from our hearts today will leave a lesson for the next generation of voters that elections can be true, free and fair in our country.
In addition to today’s determination and commitment from our community though, I want to emphasize on the fact that we should be able to reach and display a certain level of maturity as individuals and as a society by accepting the results announced by the electoral board institution of our country. We should be matured enough to trust the board when it announces the results just as we trusted it enough to cast our true votes from our hearts. We should avoid chaotic responses and instead attain a maturity level whereby we applaud the elected party and wish them all the best as citizens.
Editor’s Note: The views entertained in this article do not necessarily reflect the stance of The Ethiopian Herald
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD JUNE 23/2021
