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Ethiopia kicks off election campaign but death of opposition candidate casts doubt

 

Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice Party kicks off election campaign despite the loss of one candidate (Picture: ECSJ page)

Addis Ababa, February 15, 2021 - Yesterday, just one day before election campaign commences, Girma Moges, Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice party's candidate for Bishoftu Ada'a Woreda, Oromia, was killed. 

Girma Moges, the former candidate for Bishoftu Ada'a Woreda, Oromia
 

Although, the motives behind the killing was not known, the Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice, possibly the only party to challenge the ruling Prosperity Party, said in a statement it "denounces the murder" of its party member and that it will do its own investigation and will give an announcement.

Emblem of the Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice Party
Despite the shortcomings, the Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice Party was quick to kick off election campaign with the most creative approach ever seen in Ethiopia's brief and shallow history of elections. 

The party brought buses to provide free transportation in Addis Ababa so that passengers while traveling could meet its party leaders, ask questions and receive answers.

Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice Party to provide free transportation to reach out to voters
 

However, it was not all a walk in the park since old habits die hard. The party complained that some Federal Police and Addis Ababa Police Commission officers around Shiro Meda neighbourhood of Addis Ababa prevented its members from conducting election campaign in the area. Their reason was that they were not made aware. 

 

But among the many challenges the Ethiopian Election 2021 will face, competing in Oromia will be one of the most difficult. 

Aside from the killing of Girma Moges, the National Movement of Amhara (NaMA) party has been complaining to the electoral board of violation of election ethics by the ruling Prosperity Party in Oromia region. 

On February 02, 2021, the ruling party held a support rally in many cities of Oromia. During the rally, its supporters were chanting ethnic slurs and comparing NaMA with the now defunct rebel group Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). 

"The slogan during the rally defames a legally registered party and compares it with the disbanded TPLF as an enemy of the state. This violates election registration and code of conduct proclamation number 1162/2011", said NaMA in a statement.

In a response, the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) gave a warning to the ruling Prosperity Party that if it does not desist from such acts in the future, it will cancel its candidates who violate the election code of conduct.

Another struggling opposition party is the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC). The party has been demanding the release of its party leader. If its demands are not met,  it warned that it may not be able to compete in the coming elections. OFC's leader, Jawar Mohammed has been under hunger strike for more than two weeks now and the party said in a recent statement if anything happens to its leader it will blame none other than the government.

But the government has been busy trying to resolve border tensions with Sudan, dealing with unfinished law enforcement operation in Tigray and completing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). 

Despite all this, citizens are expected to head to the polls in 15 weeks time and for the electoral board it seems everything is going according to plan.

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