Last month Ethiopians cast their ballots in the 2013 local elections. They were peaceful and according to the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) more than 90% of the 31 million registered voters took part on polling days, 14 and 21 April.
Local elections here are for electing members of local government at zonal, sub-city, “woreda” (district) and “kebele”(neighbourhood) levels. In 2013 they also included elections for council members of the city government of Addis Ababa.The results are scheduled to be announced on 10 May, but the ruling party is expected to obtain close to 100% of the vote.
I was pleased to see that these elections were conducted peacefully and were well organised; and that 23 opposition parties took part. We are unaware of any specific allegations of harassment or intimidation. Air-time was given to both the ruling party and those opposition parties who choose to take part in the elections.
However, it was disappointing that a number of the major opposition parties chose to boycott the elections. I worry that this restricted political choice amongst Ethiopians. In the future, I hope more political parties feel they can engage in the political and electoral process in the hope that, come the 2015 general elections, Ethiopians have more political choice and can hear a wider range of views.