Ethiopia voting 'went well'

2005-08-22 08:29

Anthony Mitchell

Jijiga - Voting in Ethiopia's eastern Somali region ended peacefully on Sunday, but the delayed elections were dogged by chaos and irregularities, officials said.

Voters in the mostly ethnic Somali region, some of them armed with assault rifles, gathered at sunrise at polling stations to elect 23 federal lawmakers and 168 regional legislators. Some voters said they hoped the election would bring a way out of poverty for the region.

General elections were held in the rest of the country on May 15. But voting in the Somali region was made difficult by heavy rains, poor communications, the region's nomadic lifestyle and the presence of separatist rebels. Elite forces, pro-government militia and police patrolled the streets.

Voters dispersed

Police fired shots into the air to disperse voters who had rushed a polling station in the regional capital, Jijiga, to protest delays in voting as tensions ran high. One woman was injured in the stampede.

Minutes later, hundreds returned to cast ballots as troops, police and militiamen kept watch.

"Overall the voting has gone smoothly," said Kemal Bedri, chairperson of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia, adding that a few polling stations remained open after polls closed to allow people who were lining up to cast their ballots.

The elections were not trouble free. A Western electoral observer noted that voting in the remote Somali region "has been very chaotic, although relatively calm, and lots of irregularities".

The observer, who did not want to be identified, refused to provide further details before an official report is released.

Deadly clashes

The May elections were followed by days of violence as protesters angered by allegations of fraud faced off with security forces in deadly clashes.

The Ogaden National Liberation Front, which wants an independent state for ethnic Somalis, denounced Sunday's elections as a ploy to maintain federal control of the of the impoverished region.

"Ballots are being held in military compounds and in some cases these same compounds have been designated as venues for casting voting ballots, creating ample opportunity for coercion and intimidation," the group's statement said. "Voting ballots are readily available on the black market and there is no indication that a vast majority of polling stations will have any kind of independent monitors present."

The elections have also revealed a split within opposition parties after candidates ignored calls for a boycott by party leaders who alleged vote tampering in Sunday's vote. Party leaders also accused the military of interference and said their supporters had been harassed.

On Sunday, electoral authorities were also holding a repeat of elections in 20 parliamentary constituencies where the ruling party complained of irregularities in the May vote and in 11 districts where the opposition filed challenges.

Results are expected on September 5.

- AP