Ethiopia poll: Official results

2005-05-20 09:45

Addis Ababa - As the opposition called for some recounts or revoting in Ethiopia's parliamentary elections, the first official results to be released showed high-ranking ruling party officials had been toppled.

The National Electoral Board published results on Thursday for seven seats in the capital, where the opposition has a strong following, all of which went to the main opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) by landslides.

The seven ruling party candidates declared losers included three ministers — Education Minister Genet Zewdie, State Minister for Mines Sinknish Weldemaryam and Revenue Minister Getachew Belay.

The National Electoral Board had been insisting it would not release provisional results from Sunday's voting until Saturday and ratified results on June 8, and did not explain why it had released just seven results early.

Ruling and opposition parties claim victory

Ruling and opposition parties have been claiming victory based on projections from tallies drawn up by party monitors at individual polling stations at which results have been posted. The National Electoral Board may have felt pressure to start releasing results because tensions have been raised by conflicting claims from the parties.

Hailu Shawel, leader of the CUD, on Thursday accused the ruling party of deliberately delaying vote counting in more than half of the contested seats in the Horn of Africa nation.

Hailu also demanded election recounts or revotes in 15% of constituencies, claiming his supporters were prevented from casting ballots and its agents were blocked from monitoring polls.

The demand came one day after the CUD and an allied opposition coalition claimed they were heading to victory in Sunday's parliamentary elections — days after the government said it was the winner.

Counting is going smoothly

Hailu said elections were flawed in 84 of the 547 parliamentary seats.

The National Electoral Board has received complaints on the conduct of the polls from both the ruling and opposition parties, spokesperson Getahun Amogne said.

"We will investigate to decide if there is going to be recounting or any re-elections held in the country," he said.

Bereket Simon, spokesperson for the ruling Ethiopia People's Revolutionary Front, said opposition claims were baseless.

"Counting is going smoothly," Bereket said. "We are not blocking anything, everything is being counted and the time schedule is normal."

European Union observers had said Sunday's vote was "the most genuinely competitive elections the country has experienced", despite some problems and human rights violations.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, known as one of the continent's more progressive leaders, has pledged his sometimes authoritarian government would introduce greater democracy. Many had pointed to Sunday's race as a test of his commitment to reform.

- AP