Elections not up to par, despite open campaign - EU

In spite of an open and democratic campaign, Ethiopia's parliamentary elections held on 15 May 2005 fell short of international standards because of irregularities and post-electoral violence, the European Union said in a report. In its final report on the controversial elections that returned Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to power, the EU observer team said the poll fell short of universal democratic standards. "While the pre-election period saw a number of positive developments and voting on 15 May was conducted in a peaceful and largely orderly manner, the counting and aggregation processes were marred by irregular practices, confusion and a lack of transparency," said the report, which was released on Tuesday. "The human rights situation rapidly deteriorated in the post-election period when dozens of citizens were killed by the police and thousands were arrested [...] Overall, therefore, the elections fell short of international principles for genuine democratic elections," it said. The report identified a range of electoral offences, including harassment of opposition politicians, lack of transparency in the exercise and massive delays and irregularities in vote counting in several polling stations across the country. "EU observers witnessed cases that suggested serious irregularities with election results, including figures that were implausible," the report said. The EU observer team called for reforms in Ethiopia's election laws and procedures: "The system of counting, aggregation and publication of votes should be faster, more rigorous and more transparent. This will be a key measure to avoid post-election conflict and controversy." The elections were the country's third since Meles came to power in 1991 and the second since the advent of multiparty politics. They had been viewed as a test of Meles' democratic credentials. There was no immediate government reaction to the report, but Meles had in the past described a preliminary EU report on the elections "as a pack of lies". Protests in June and November 2005 over the controversial election results caused clashes between stone-throwing demonstrators and heavily armed security forces. At least 84 people died in the unrest. The government responded with a heavy-handed crackdown, accusing the main Coalition of Unity and Democracy (CUD) party of inciting violence in a bid to overthrow the government. Police arrested thousands of people, most of whom have since been freed. Those detained included nearly the entire leadership of CUD and about 20 journalists, who have been held since November and charged with capital offences including treason and genocide. The government's handling of the entire post-election period has raised international concerns. In December 2005, the EU decided to withhold its US $375 million direct budgetary support to the government.