Millions of hopeful Ethiopians demonstrated in the capital's center, Meskel Square, during the 2005 election. But with opposition leader Judge Birtukan Mideksa in prison and without any independent institution in Ethiopia, most people are boycotting the 2010 election.
- A report by the Addis Ababa based newspaper FORTUNE reveals that most Ethiopian people have already boycotted the 2010 election. Even though the Meles ruling party has began bribing food to impoverished teenagers to force them to participate, registration stations remain nearly empty. For the majority of Ethiopians, a promise of an independent election board is not enough since the 2010 election is already rigged as there is no independent police force in the country. Last year, the head of the European Union 2005 election observer team told Jimma Times that there will never be a free election in Ethiopia under Zenawi's TPLF/EPRDF rule.
(ADDIS FORTUNE) Many registration stations are seen idle most of the time with one or two people showing up for registration at an interval of several minutes. Looking bored, those who register the voters and the observers try to make good with their group conversations and coffee time. It seemed all registration stations were equipped with charcoal furnaces, traditional clay coffee pot and all the materials they needed for coffee making.
An Adama resident, who had voted for CUD in 2005, doubted that there could be the same spirit in 2010. He insisted that he would not vote in this election.
Reyot Mattiwos, 36, a resident of Hawassa who works in an aid organisation, says he never cared about elections. "Maybe in the final months of the campaign things might get exciting and I might consider registering," he said, not realising that less than three weeks were left before the registration would end.
The ruling party was hindering the rural public in Tigray from registering by employing them in food for work programmes, says Seyee Abreha, vice-president for public relations of the Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ). Beyene Petros (Prof.), chairman of United Ethiopian Democratic Force (UEDF), also had this complaint. "Teenagers under the age of 18 organised by the ruling party have already acquired the voting cards," he said. These opposition leaders asked for an extension of registration so they could mobilize their supporters to register. Bereket Simon, member of the Central Committee of the EPRDF, rejected the all charges against his party.
"One million voters are registering daily. We cannot say they are all EPRDF supporters," he said.
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