የኢትዮዽያውያን ዴሞክራቶች ድረ-ገፅEthiopian Democrats' Website

Source: Reporter;

The run-up to the 2010 Ethiopian elections had its twists and turns ending with the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) taking an unprecedented number of seats accounting for more than 91 percent of the total number of seats in the House of Peoples’ Representatives (HPR).

Of the twists and turns, the move taken by the EPRDF, which it has described as the replacement or succession of senior members, has also attracted the attention of the public. The earnestness of According to sources, the party has deliberated on introducing change into the party machinery for some three years.

This move was explained in the party’s ideological publication, Addis Raey, which stated in its July 2009 edition that the EPRDF has put in place a mechanism for the selection and succession of party leaders, a key criteria to measure the democratic nature of the party.

Although the publication claims that there have been broad leadership changes over the years in the four member organisations of the EPRDF, i.e., the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), the Oromo People’s Democratic Organisation (OPDO) and the Southern Ethiopian Peoples' Democratic Front (SEPDF), its side of the argument has hardly been recognised by those in the opposition and some political analysts in academic circles.

After the EPRDF decided not to field the party’s long serving bigwigs like Deputy Prime Minister Addisu Legesse, foreign minister Seyoum Mesfin and Bereket Simon to run for the elections pundits say the move came in the nick of time.

“I have seen a change in the EPRDF and that is something that has been lacking in Ethiopian politics for quite sometime,” Mesfin Debebe, a businessman and resident of Addis told The Reporter. He went on to say that the replacement tells him that the party was politically maturing.

“This is what I hope to see from the opposition. I have seen the Professor [Beyene] in parliament for more than 10 years. Though I am no political expert, the fact that he lost the election could mean that the political trend he has been following could be archaic,” Mesfin said.

Mesfin’s desire to see change within the opposition camp, as in the case with the EPRDF, could be coming within the next five years.

In what is considered by some as the right step to be taken by the opposition, some of its leaders are already considering the fact that some sort of alteration within the core of their respective parties could be effective.

“To begin with, the result of the election has not yet been officially certified. So, we can't really give a conclusive picture of our plans for the next five years,” Ayele Chamiso, chairman of Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUDP) told The Reporter.

According to Ayele, as an overall strategy his party still believed in peaceful struggle and that it has been pursuing such a strategy until now. However, he says that his party is willing to consider forming alliances with other parties.

“We intend not to repeat the mistake of acting alone and to that effect we plan to open our doors to other political parties which have similar goals and programmes.”

He concluded by stressing that though it was too early to reveal which political parties that the CUDP might be able to form a coalition with it was moving towards forming a coalition or even a front.

Ayele’s view is shared by another veteran opposition politician Lidetu Ayalew, chairman of the Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP).

“As long as there are parties which are of liberal democracy persuasion, we will most likely welcome them,” Lidetu said. He noted that having three parties in that coalition is a sizeable number.

However, other opposition politicians like the way things are going but plan to strengthen their capability.

After completing an intense campaign and election process the following week is time to take rest and entertain issues related to the election, Dr Negasso Gidada, senior official of the Ethiopian Federal Democratic Unity Forum (Forum), says.

According to Dr. Negasso, Forum is recuperating from the alleged election- related irregularities, adding complaints that would be submitted to the electoral board were being carefully considered. He indicated that vital information about the election process was being gathered.

“With regard to having a long term plan, for the next 5 years we are planning to strengthen our coalition with the member parties by promoting dialogue and bridging the gap on issues of divergence,” Dr. Negasso said.