Ethiopians to vote in what government bills as first free election
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Thursday
August 18, 2022

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2022
Ethiopians to vote in what government bills as first free election

Africa

Reuters
21 June, 2021, 09:30 am
Last modified: 21 June, 2021, 09:34 am

Related News

  • UK bill to override Northern Ireland Brexit deal back in parliament
  • Apple store workers in Maryland form first US union
  • Ethiopia's ‘false banana’ could solve climate change induced food shortages: Study
  • Mass arrests after anti-Muslim attack in Ethiopia
  • Clashes in Ethiopia kill 20 Muslim worshippers - regional Islamic leader

Ethiopians to vote in what government bills as first free election

Abiy said last week the vote would be the "first attempt at free and fair elections" in Ethiopia, whose once rapidly growing economy has been hit by conflict and the Covid-19 pandemic

Reuters
21 June, 2021, 09:30 am
Last modified: 21 June, 2021, 09:34 am
Workers of the National Election Board of Ethiopia set up a tent to be used as a polling station, ahead of Ethiopia's parliamentary and regional elections in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, June 20, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner
Workers of the National Election Board of Ethiopia set up a tent to be used as a polling station, ahead of Ethiopia's parliamentary and regional elections in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, June 20, 2021. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Ethiopians vote on Monday in national and regional elections that the prime minister has billed as proof of his commitment to democracy after decades of repressive rule in Africa's second-most populous nation.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, 44, oversaw sweeping political and economic reforms after his appointment in 2018 by the ruling coalition. But some rights activists say those gains are being reversed and complain of abuses in a war in Ethiopia's Tigray region, charges the government denies.

Abiy said last week the vote would be the "first attempt at free and fair elections" in Ethiopia, whose once rapidly growing economy has been hit by conflict and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Results of the vote could reverberate beyond Ethiopia. The Horn of Africa nation is a diplomatic heavyweight in a volatile region, providing peacekeepers to Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan. It also is one of the world's biggest frontier markets.

Abiy's newly-formed Prosperity Party is the frontrunner in a crowded field of candidates mostly from smaller, ethnically-based parties. Billboards with his party's lightbulb symbol adorn the capital.

Former political prisoner Berhanu Nega is the only other prominent candidate not running on an ethnic ticket. But his Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice party has struggled to attract support outside cities.

During the last election, the ruling coalition and its allies won all 547 seats. This time, more than 37 million of Ethiopia's 109 million people are registered to vote, choosing from 46 parties for parliament. The electoral board says more candidates are running this time than in any previous vote.

Not all parties are taking part. In Oromiya, Ethiopia's most populous province, the largest opposition parties are boycotting over alleged intimidation by regional security forces. Officials did not return calls seeking comment.

Problems with voting registration and simmering ethnic violence have delayed voting in a fifth of constituencies. A second round of voting will take place in September.

No date has been set for voting in Tigray, where the government has been fighting the region's former governing party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front, since November. The United Nations says some 350,000 people face famine there.

'ALMOST A DEMOCRACY'

Drinking a beer in the capital Addis Ababa, retired civil servant Yohannes Asrat said he had seen both force and rigging during elections in his lifetime but hoped Monday's vote would be different. "We're almost a democracy," he said.

Abiy's reforms include lifting a ban on dozens of political parties and media outlets, releasing tens of thousands of political prisoners and easing restrictions on political gatherings.

But Fisseha Tekle from rights group Amnesty International said the government was still quashing dissent using a revised anti-terrorism law and new hate speech legislation that can lead to prison terms for online content.

"The government is using these laws to arrest people and keep them in prison for a long time," Fisseha said.

In the capital, many construction projects have paused as growth has slowed in what until recently was one of Africa's fastest expanding economies, leaving tattered sheeting covering skeletons of unfinished buildings. Many voters are more concerned about reviving the economy than democratic reforms.

Abiy has promised to bring in foreign investment and speed up electrification by filling a giant $4 billion hydropower dam on the Blue Nile, stoking tension with Egypt and Sudan, which fear the Nile water supplies they rely on might be interrupted.

But annual inflation is now about 20% and growth is forecast at just 2% this year after topping 10% before the pandemic.

"The cost of living is increasing," said shopkeeper Murad Merga, whose window was adorned with ruling party posters. But he remained upbeat: "Everything will be fixed step by step."

World+Biz

Ethiopia / Vote / bill / free election

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Eight more banks make unusual gains from forex dealings
    Eight more banks make unusual gains from forex dealings
  • Illustration: TBS
    There are systems in place to collect info from the Swiss: Is Dhaka approaching this right?
  • A maze of crude oil pipes and valves is pictured during a tour by the Department of Energy at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in Freeport, Texas, U.S. June 9, 2016. REUTERS/Richard Carson/File Photo
    Oil prices ease as Russia output increases

MOST VIEWED

  • A child receives a vaccination against measles during a campaign in Juba, South Sudan February 4, 2020. REUTERS/Samir Bol/File Photo
    Zimbabwe measles outbreak blamed on sect gatherings kills 157 children
  • Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga of the Azimio La Umoja (Declaration of Unity) One Kenya Alliance, who competed in Kenya's presidential election, addresses the nation following the announcement of the results of the presidential election, in Nairobi, Kenya August 16, 2022. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya
    Kenya's Odinga says presidential election result a 'travesty'
  • Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto and presidential candidate for the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and Kenya Kwanza political coalition reacts after being declared the winner of Kenya's presidential election at the IEBC National Tallying Centre at the Bomas of Kenya, in Nairobi, Kenya August 15, 2022. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya
    Kenya's Ruto declared president-elect in chaotic scenes
  • A French soldier stands guard in a watchtower at the Relay Desert Platform Camp (PfDR) during Operation Barkhane in Gossi, Mali, July 30, 2019. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
    France says all its troops battling Islamists in Mali have now left
  • As power crisis worsens, solar panels are seen next to housing units at the Palm Springs residential estate in Cosmo City, in Johannesbrug, South Africa, August 6, 2022. REUTERS/Shafiek Tassiem
    South Africa's 'silent revolution' as those with cash go solar
  • UN-chartered ship in Ukraine readying for journey to Africa
    UN-chartered ship in Ukraine readying for journey to Africa

Related News

  • UK bill to override Northern Ireland Brexit deal back in parliament
  • Apple store workers in Maryland form first US union
  • Ethiopia's ‘false banana’ could solve climate change induced food shortages: Study
  • Mass arrests after anti-Muslim attack in Ethiopia
  • Clashes in Ethiopia kill 20 Muslim worshippers - regional Islamic leader

Features

Illustration: TBS

There are systems in place to collect info from the Swiss: Is Dhaka approaching this right?

1h | Panorama
Photo: Collected

Which Nintendo Switch should you switch to?

1d | Brands
Photo: Collected

Welcome to the age of glass facades

1d | Habitat
Photo: Mumit M/TBS

Why artificial oyster reefs are the answer to our coastal embankments problems

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Photo: TBS

Get paid for just sleeping!

50m | Videos
Photo: TBS

Who benefits from the ongoing global recession

1h | Videos
Vivo to bring new phone with 'special features'

Vivo to bring new phone with 'special features'

13h | Videos
Can Bangladesh buy fuel oil from Russia?

Can Bangladesh buy fuel oil from Russia?

14h | Videos

Most Read

1
From left Afzal Karim, Murshedul Kabir and Mohammad Jahangir
Banking

Sonali, Agrani and Rupali banks get new MDs

2
Photo: TBS
Bangladesh

5 crushed to death as BRT girder falls on car in Uttara

3
Russia now offers Bangladesh finished oil
Energy

Russia now offers Bangladesh finished oil

4
Photo: Collected
Economy

Bangladesh is not in a crisis situation: IMF

5
Dollar price drops by Tk8 in kerb market
Economy

Dollar price drops by Tk8 in kerb market

6
Banks limited to profit highest Tk1 per dollar
Economy

Banks limited to profit highest Tk1 per dollar

EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2022
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net