Ethiopian PM lashes out at EU

2005-09-01 12:48

Addis Ababa - Less than a week after angrily denouncing European Union (EU) criticism of Ethiopia's disputed May polls, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Thursday launched a harsh personal attack on the chief EU election monitor.

In a lengthy letter to the editor of the state-run Ethiopian Herald newspaper, Meles accused Ana Gomes, the head of the EU election observation mission, of being a "self-appointed colonial viceroy" with clear bias in favour of the opposition.

The prime minister said Gomes had violated standards of impartiality expected from neutral election observers by promoting opposition suggestions for overcoming disputes arising from the May 15 polls that his ruling party won.

'Bad ideas'

Repeatedly referring to Gomes as "the good lady" but not by name in the third and final instalment of the 15-page letter published on Thursday, Meles said the EU official had unacceptably endorsed opposition calls for the creation of a national unity government and new elections.

"All of these bad ideas were discussed with her in the spirit of partnership," he said, referring to meetings between Gomes and officials with the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).

"She was told that these are bad ideas unacceptable to the EPRDF," Meles said, accusing Gomes of attempting to force his government from power. "The good lady can apparently not take 'no' for an answer from the natives."

'A pack of lies'

"She apparently does not understand that as soon as these merely bad ideas become tainted by association with an election observer turned self-appointed colonial viceroy hell bent on twisting the arms of the government to force it to accept her dictates, merely discussing the ideas, let alone accepting them, becomes unthinkable," he wrote.

Meles' retort came just three days after he dismissed as a "pack of lies" the EU observer mission's August 25 report on the elections that said the process, particularly investigations of alleged vote fraud, did not meet world standards.

Final returns give the EPRDF a victory in the elections despite significant gains by the country's two main opposition groups who insist they won and are threatening to boycott parliament unless a unity government is formed.

Protests over alleged fraud sparked deadly violence in the capital in June when police opened fire on crowds during demonstrations, killing at least 36 and as many as 42 people.

- AFP