Intimidation claim may see poll result challenged in court in Ethiopia

Published on Sunday 23 May 2010 23:30

ETHIOPIA'S opposition parties have warned they may not accept the results of yesterday's elections, amid claims of intimidation and vote-rigging.

However, in a bid to avoid the violent street clashes that marred the last poll in 2005 and left nearly 200 people dead, they vowed to take any challenge to the election result to the courts.

The election in Africa's third-most populous nation is being closely watched by international observers, and by critics who say the ruling party, an ally of the United States, has harassed voters and challengers.

The poll is likely to lead to a new decade of power for prime minister Meles Zenawi.

The coalition of opposition parties, Medrek, complained of intimidation soon after yesterday's vote began. Spokesman Negasso Gidada said some of his party's observers had been blocked and arrested in the north and others had been intimidated in the south.

"We may not accept the results," he said, stressing the party would settle any election irregularities by appealing in court. A government spokesman dismissed claims of intimidation and vote-rigging as "an orchestrated lie".

Mr Negasso said a group of his party's election observers were arrested in Tigray and intimidated in the Oromia and Amhara regions.

He said voter cards had been denied to eligible opposition voters and that plastic sheets separating election booths in the capital had not been private enough, with voters able to speak to each other and pass notes under the barriers. "The secret ballot is being violated. This is very serious," he said.

Mr Meles' party, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, denied it had repressed its opponents and said candidates had been able to campaign freely. But opposition members said they had been harassed and two of their campaigners had been killed under mysterious circumstances.

Ethiopia is frequently criticised for its human rights record, including by the US state department, which in a March report cited reports of "unlawful killings, torture, beating, abuse and mistreatment of detainees and opposition supporters by security forces, often acting with evident impunity".

However, the US considers Ethiopia an ally. Both countries want to curb Islamist extremism in neighbouring Somalia.