State Financial Subsidies and Air Time Allocations Made to Contending Political Parties

As can be understood from the modern definition of democracy, it is inalienable from elections.  Democratic system can never exist without democratic elections and vice versa. In order for the prevalence of democratic elections, political parties need to accomplish several things necessary for them to contest in the elections. They need to introduce their candidates and programs to the public, they need to educate the public that the latter play its own role for making the elections be free, fair, democratic, peaceful and legitimate as well as to train and deploy their agents at various levels etc., all of which  require money and other resources. Of course, the parties collect big chunks from their own members and supporters. Despite that, political parties in developing countries critically need additional resource in order for them accomplish the huge tasks that await them in elections. But, supports delivery system and mechanism varies from country to country.

There are generally two basic principles that govern allocations of support despite their variant nature depending on the objective realities of the specific countries. These are either the principle of equality or the principle of equity.

 The first principle relates to equal distribution of resources allocated by the government to all political organizations contesting in elections, i.e. without attaching any criteria in resource distribution. Nevertheless, this approach was found to be non-preferable in most of the countries, as the equal distribution of allocated budget to all contending parties will be meaningless particularly in countries with enormous number of contesting parties as often was the case that political parties with little participation in politics of a nation is likely to get equal amount with the political party of greater political participation.

The second principle, which is equity, is practiced according to objective realities and the overriding principles that exist in a country. Most of the countries that are fond of applying the principle of equity take number of parliamentary seats as a major criterion for undertaking fair resource distribution. There are also countries which employ other criteria along with that. For example, some use number of candidates or for that matter number of women candidates fielded by the political parties.

Among countries that employ the principle of equity in distributing resources among political parties are South Africa, Greece, Spain, United Kingdom and Israel.

The principle opted by Ethiopia is equity.  That was made in line with the amended Law of Political Parties’ Registration Proclamation Number 573/2000, which dictates that state financial subsidies made to the political parties by the government will be distributed and utilized in a manner that political parties contribute their share for the democratic system. The law also requires that the state subsidy be made in equitable and just manner. Thus the board has issued the distribution system code number 5/2000.

The budget allocation formula that was principally made on the principle of equity as an expression of taking the objective realities of the country, the Board had forwarded the draft formula to the political parties’ consultation.

At the end of the day, the accepted budget formula stated that 55% of the total state financial subsidy be distributed on the basis of seats parties have in the federal house and regional councils; 25% of it be on the number of candidates the parties fielded for the federal house and the regional councils; 10% of it on the number of women candidates fielded by the political parties; and the remaining 10% be distributed on equal basis to all of the legally registered political parties.

It must be clear however that even the draft formula was designed after the NEBE had thoroughly examined the experience of other countries and consultation was made with political parties. As was revealed in the studies conducted by NEBE, countries that apply the principle of equity distribute some80-90% of the state subsidies on the basis of parliamentary seats, apparently discouraging other parties that either lost in the earlier elections or recently established.

Cognizant of this fact, what NEBE has finally come up with was a formula that also encourages new parties. That is why; the amount of subsidies allocated to parties with parliamentary seats has substantially been reduced to 55% against 90% of other countries. That was made in a manner to consolidate the prevailing multiparty system more than ever. The unique move taken by the board shows its commitment to independently serve all political parties and want them all compete with better resource at their disposal.

With a subsidiary plan of such a kind, the board submitted it to the state which has finally made an allocation of 7,000,000 Birr as a show case of its commitment for creating a robust multiparty system and prevailing free,  fair, democratic and peaceful elections in the coming May.

On the other hand, NEBE has played a key role in the equitable distribution of free air time and news papers columns for contesting political parties in collaboration with the Ethiopian Broadcasting Agency.

Based on the equitable share, all the political parties contesting in the upcoming elections would use 25% of the total air time and columns allocated by public owned media; 55% of it distributed according to the number of  seats in the federal parliament and regional councils; while the remaining 25% is distributed the number of candidates fielded by the political parties.

In general, NEBE is relentlessly working for the successful accomplishment of election with all measures and standards. It is up to the political parties to exploit the best opportunities created for them and contribute their best for the successful completion of the elections so that they will be free, fair, democratic, peaceful and legitimate more than ever.

Chronology of Major Events in the history of elections in Ethiopia

•  In 1924*, the so-called first parliament was established.  The parliamentarians were essentially landlords and aristocrats directly elected by the Emperor of the time.  The parliament formed that way was functional until 1928, the year Fascist Italian army invaded Ethiopia.
•   In 1935, the second parliament was established. Members of the Senate were directly elected by the Emperor himself while members of Congress were elected by local elders. Those elected were necessarily had to be land lords. The parliament that was formed that way had stayed in power for 15 years.
• In 1948, Ethiopian peoples were allowed for the first time to elect parliamentarians. Since then a total of five elections were conducted, once in every four years. Among the criteria set for running candidacy was certain property ownership. The competition was also necessarily among individuals as there were no any political organizations. Though elections were conducted by an electoral board, its independence was in question as it was required to closely work with the then Ministry of Interior Affairs.
•  In Meskerem 1967, the monarchy regime was toppled by massive popular revolution and the state power was quickly overtaken by organized military group, known as the Dergue. While the junta has outlawed all political activities by law, it had never allowed any sort of elections until 1979.
•  In 1979, the military regime adopted its Constitution of the Ethiopian People’s Democratic Republic and issued a proclamation on elections. Though the law dictated that all citizens had the right to participate in elections, candidacies were practically made by the sole governing Workers Party of Ethiopia.
• On Ginbot 20, 1983, EPRDF controlled Addis Ababa deposing the military regime. No sooner, the victorious group summoned all political parties operating in and out of the country to decide on the fate of the nation. The unprecedented joint forum of political parties thus established the Transitional Government of Ethiopia.
• In Sene 1983, the Charter for the Transitional Government of Ethiopia was adopted by the joint forum of political parties.
• In 1984, the Electoral Commission for the transitional period was established and in Yekatit of the same year, it conducted elections for District and Sub-District (kebele) Interim Administrative Committees, whose main task was restoring peace and stability at local level, mainly with the disarmament of illegal weapons dispersed among the public by the fleeing army of the Dergue.
•   In Ginbot 1984, Elections of National, Regional and District Council members were conducted. Electoral officers then were composed of representatives of political parties that were operating in the respective localities though the chair persons were necessarily representatives of the Electoral Commission. Among the criteria for candidacy then was a signature of 50 people for district and 350 for regional councils. After the successful completion of those elections, the term of the National Electoral Commission came to an end.
•  In Ginbot 1986, the National Electoral Board was established as an independent institution, which then conducted Elections for the Constitutional Assembly. With that elections a total of 37 political groups were represented with various numbers of seats in the Assembly.
• In 1987, the First General Elections were carried out with 57 contesting political parties. 43 political parties were able to secure seats in the federal parliament and regional councils. While the number of voters registered in that election was 21,337,379, some 19,986,179 casted their ballots.
• In 1992, were held the Second General Elections. 49 political parties contested it.  19,607,861 voters casted their ballots out of the total registered voters of 21,834,806.
•   In 1997, were held the Third General Elections, wherein 29 out of 35 political organizations that contested in the elections had managed to secure substantial amount of seats both at the federal and regional levels, though some of them boycotted them later. While the number of voters registered was 27,372,888, some 22,610,690 had casted ballots.
•  2002, preparations to undertake the Fourth General Elections. As part of the preparations Political Parties negotiated and amended several provisions of electoral related  laws and codes and actually reached a historic agreement on electoral code of political parties which has been made part of the law though their consent. 63 political parties have fielded 2,178 candidates for the federal and 4,729 for regional councils. The number of voters registered is a record high with 31,926,320.
• (*all the years given in the chronology are in Ethiopian Calendar.)

Much Acclaimed Efficiency in Logistics

There is no doubt that NEBE, with a better organizational setup and efficient working system, is working day and night so as to make the upcoming general elections free, fair, democratic, peaceful and credible more than ever.

Prior to the elections, the board had to prepare massive electoral documents and dispatch them to 547 electoral constituencies and over 43,500 polling stations it has established across the country. The preparations and distributions of materials were carried out in two phases.

The first phase was made for the registration of voters and candidates. The second phase is related to meeting material needs for balloting, vote counting and displaying electoral results.

In the first phase, thus, the board has prepared and published some 50 types of documents and distributed them in large copies to 547 electoral constituencies and over 43,500 polling stations, as a result of which the registration of voters and candidates successfully completed some months ago. Among the 50 types of documents efficiently prepared in a short period of time is the voters’ registration book whose 97,000 copies were dispatched along with 35,000,000 voters’ registration cards, various types of forms for candidacy registration as well as various reference materials such as proclamations, codes and guidelines.

In the second phase, the board has similarly prepared more than 45 types of documents that will be used for balloting, vote counting and displaying electoral results, whose distribution was almost under completion just a month before the actual voting day.

The institutional capacity of NEBE particularly in preparing massive electoral documents in a cost effective way and distributing them in the most efficient way has long been hailed by international bodies such as the Carter Center.

The board with better efficiency this time around is certainly distributing the remaining materials necessary for balloting and counting votes as much as it effectively distributed materials for voters and candidates registrations.

Ethiopia’s Electoral Code of Conduct: Expression of Historic Agreement between Rival Political Parties

Several interpretations have been given as to what exactly the term democracy refers to. The most accepted definition however relates to governance that is essentially formed by the people and to the people.

A country that needs to establish democratic system has to accomplish several things towards realizing that dream.  One core issue that must not be underestimated in this regard is that the democratic principles have to be also implemented according to the specific cultural, economic and political realities of that country.

There is no doubt that election in a democratic society is a means to establish a government of the public choice. In other words, it is only democratic elections that truly empower the peoples to establish a government that they believe would serve their interests best. Democratic elections are also essentially characterized by a conducive environment wherein several alternatives are presented by rival groups or individuals so that citizens would have real chance to choose from. A major condusive environment in this regard is the prevalence of a level play field wherein all political parties freely and equally convey their alternatives to the public. And needless to say that the political parties under such freedom must act responsibly and make utmost care particularly in their efforts to reach the wider public with their policies and programs, lest their speeches would affect the morals of the society, incite multinational and religious conflicts etc. Hatred and irresponsible speeches as has been witnessed in the post Elections 2005 would often lead to detrimental consequences.

 It is really in view of this fact that one would appreciate the vitality of the proclamation on the electoral code of conduct, which sprang out as the consent of political parties that compete in the elections of Ethiopia.

First of all, one would appreciate the way the electoral code of conduct was initially drafted by the political parties themselves before it was legislated.  It is also important to notice how the draft code which the political parties deliberated on meets international standards right from the outset since it was a translated version of a document originally produced by the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA).

The parties that started the dialogue at the initial stage were five, namely EPRDF, Kinjit, EDP, AEUO and Medrek. But, Medrek quickly walked out of the dialogue and refused later to join back despite repetitive calls made by the negotiating parties. Thus, the other four parties, namely the EPRDF, Kinjit, EDP and AEUO had to continue the dialogue, which they did from Nehasie 25 to Tikimt 17, 2001, the day when they finally reached on agreement on the contents of the electoral code of conduct along with its implementing guidelines.

In fact, the historic value attached to that agreement was best explained by the leaders of the signatories at the ceremony held at the conclusion of their historic dialogue, which had also been attended by some members of the diplomatic community in Addis.

Honorable Meles Zenawi, Chairperson of the EPRDF, who is also Prime Minister of FDRE, described the agreement as a great achievement “that compels opposition parties to confine their electoral activities to peaceful and legal manner while it compels the ruling party facilitate a level play field and enabling competition ground for the oppositions. Thus, what we have endorsed is a code of conduct that compels both the ruling and the opposition parties to execute elections of democratic standards. That is why it is a major achievement.” Meles also expressed hope that “the spirit that prevailed all along the dialogue will not only uphold in the future but also prevails itself to non-attending political parties to have their share from.”

Honorable Ayele Chamiso, Chairperson of Kinijit said, “ While the dialogue was completed with mutual trust and responsibility, free from hatred of any sort as well as held on the principle of give and take, we have crafted the document, through such a successful dialogue, that is inclusive of all our stands and beliefs. This is a historic process in which various political parties in our country jointly discussed, negotiated and adopted the code in a common voice for the first time and hence it is our belief that it will set an exemplary to Africa and to the world.”

Honourable Lidetu Ayalew, Chairperson of EDP said, “What we have finally discovered at this stage after passing through the negotiating process is that politics of hatred, disengagement and in general zero-sum game has been culminating in Ethiopia.”

Engineer Hailu Shawl, Chairperson of AEUO on his part said, “We, leaders and members in the AEUO will not only demonstrate implementation of this code to the Ethiopian people but also stand steadfastly to its execution.”

Thus, it was after the four parties demonstrated their support to the draft code in such a way that they also jointly agreed draft be legislated. Then 65 political parties legally operating in the country took the floor to debate on the draft code prepared by the four major political parties. The parties were invited by the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) with the objective of giving them a chance to make amendments if they have any before its legislation. Medrek for the third time walked out of that inter-party dialogue which was taking place in the hall of the NEBE.

The first thing that the 65 political parties had to do in that dialogue was giving the chair and coordination role to the NEBE on the ground that it is a non-partisan and independent institution. Thus, the Board, which accepted invitation, was proven successful in discharging the role entrusted to it.

The 65 political parties then started their engagement by reviewing the document produced by the four political parties and ultimately accepting it as a draft code of conduct to deliberate on. As the outcome of their dialogue, the 65 political parties have managed to make 10 amendments, add two new sub-articles and an idea that would be included in the implementation guidelines before they ultimately endorsed the document as a draft code of conduct with unanimous vote on Hdar 02, 2002. The political parties have also agreed that the draft document, as unanimously accepted code of conduct be legislated by the House of Peoples’ Representatives. That was really a remarkable achievement in terms of strengthening democratic system in the country.

Finally, the draft code was endorsed in a proclamation by the House of Peoples’ Representatives after examining the draft’s compatibility to other national and international laws. The issuance of the political parties’ electoral code of conduct proclamation number 662/2002, is believed to have played an irreplaceable role in ensuring that next elections, not only the up-coming one  but also several others that are to follow then after, become more free, fair, peaceful and legitimate to the peoples of Ethiopia. The compulsion made on all the political parties, be signatories or otherwise, to act within that legal framework will certainly improve the qualities of elections that this country would have to see.

Given the experiences the country has from its past elections, the elections to come in the future will certainly be guided agreed upon codes of conducts and hence perhaps characterized by more qualitative changes that necessarily make them free, fair, peaceful, legal, democratic and legitimate elections in the country.

On the other hand, the code will have a great significance in consolidating further the sovereign power of the Ethiopian peoples in initiating, owning and controlling power, as well as the full respect of human and democratic rights, which the peoples have been enjoying ever-since their age-old struggle bear fruits barely a couple of decades ago.

The political parties are expected to work together and resolve their differences through their peaceful way they all crafted and be ready to accept results of elections carried out in a free, fair, democratic manner as the sole decision of the peoples and scale up their contribution further in consolidating the democratic process underway in the country. In this regard, the proclamation of the electoral code of conduct would ensure fair competition among political parties in their search for state power, free from hatred and suspicions and rather be founded on healthy relations and in general setting exemplary peaceful and democratic elections to Africa. That is why, all the political parties and their members and supporters are expected to contribute their share in implementing the code.

There is no doubt some complaints might be encountered in the pre-, -post and during electoral process. Such a situation is unavoidable even in robust democracies; leave alone in an emerging democracy like Ethiopia.

However, the establishment of a system which empowers the contending  political parties resolve their own complaints through a joint forum of  mutual understanding and peaceful engagement as per the provisions in the proclamation of the electoral code is yet another major achievement worth mentioning. Thanks to the new proclamation of the code of conduct, political parties have a joint forum of various strata across the nation. For example, at the middle of April, there were 110 joint forums  at the constituency level established by contending political parties in the Southern NNNRS while there were  129 in the Amhara NRS as much as the number of constituencies in Addis Ababa City. There is no doubt that the establishment of these  joint forum will be vital in resolving complaints of  the political parties by  themselves through peaceful consultations and which in turn will be vital in upholding free, fair, democratic and legitimate elections across the land. The joint forums will not only serve as a venue of consultations but also of controlling mechanism. While the political parties are still multiplying the number of their joint forums operating across the country to the lowest electoral strata, the achievements made by the forums in the run up to the coming elections has so far been quite remarkable.

The inter-party political debate which is underway in a civilized manner more than ever in line with the proclamation of the electoral code of conduct has successfully deterred hatred and inciting speeches. In the mean time, the political debate has created a room wherein distinctive alternatives proposed by political parties would let the public have informed decisions in exercising its sovereign power.

What we explained above and several other achievements we have witnessed so far in the run up to the coming elections, have generally boosted our belief that the up-coming elections would set an exemplary to other similar events to come then after would uphold such important issues as peace, democracy and legitimacy at their heart. It is also our belief that the elections would set an exemplary to the rest of Africa and improve the image of the country the way our athletes are doing at the international level as long as heads of all political parties relentlessly strive to implement the code of conduct and make sure that their members and supporters do same.

The Recruitment and Deployment of the Electoral Officers

The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) is set up of nine members whose recruitment and appointment is normally made in line with constitutional criteria that include experience and expertise among others. While those criteria are cardinals of the constitution, the establishment of the current Board has come up with unprecedented consent of main political parties contesting in the up-coming elections in the country. That was because of the goodwill of the government and the political parties as an expression of their commitments to make the coming elections as well as others that would follow free, fair, democratic, peaceful and legitimate more than ever.

Ever since its establishment, the current NEBE has been undertaking several measures primarily with the objective of upgrading its own executive efficiency so as to discharge the constitutional mandates entrusted to it by the peoples of Ethiopia as well as to improve the quality of elections in the country. In this regard, it has reviewed all the last three elections and drawn all the best lessons from them. It has also gathered best practices of other countries such as Botswana, Ghana, Germany, South Africa and USA, where in some it has deployed electoral observation missions. After formulating the best experiences gained in such away in line with the objective realities of the country, it has also gained its own practical experience as it has successfully carried out Local and By-Elections in 2000 E.C. as well as in fact some referendums across the country.

The Board, which laid out its organizational structure from the federal to the lowest polling stations, is currently undertaking its duty with a number of permanent and temporary offices it has established across the country. The Board at the federal level has an office headed by one chief and two deputies. The office within its own structure has reorganized 13 departments staffed with 60 new employees with pertinent education and experience and facilitated them with essential equipment.

The NEBE has established nine electoral coordinating branch offices, one in each regional state as well as two others in the two city administrations. The 11 branch offices are operating with permanent and temporary staff. With such organizational set up, the number of electoral constituencies established by the NEBE is 547 with the deployment of 1,641 electoral officers.

A major change that has been introduced to the electoral exercise of the country is the reduction of the number of voters served in a single polling station. The number of voters that are going to cast their ballots in a single polling station has been lowered to be not more than 1,000 from up to 4,500 in the past. While the change was certainly made in line with Article 22, Sub-Article 6 of the newly amended electoral law proclamation number 532/1999, which provides that the number of voters to be accommodated in a single polling station must not excel 1000, the rationale behind is easing the burden of voters, who used to experience day long queue as was the case in Elections 2005 and prior to that.

With such a sweeping change, the number of polling stations established across the country is more than 43,500 with the deployment of more than 220,000 electoral officers.

In general,  60-70 per cent of the current  electoral officials deployed at various strata are newly recruited by the Board  and of course in line with the criteria set by the electoral law of the country, namely on the ground of efficiency, independence and non-partisanship. The new recruitment of officers has primarily focused on better education and experience as well as on youth and women.

It is also worth mentioning that all the electoral executives deployed at various levels have been trained by the Board on electoral execution guidelines, working systems and procedures so as to upgrade their efficiency in undertaking elections.

It is also important to note that following the trainings that the electoral executives have successfully completed the first stage of voters and candidates’ registration in the run up to the up-coming elections in May.

In general, the prospect towards the up-coming elections is positive for several reasons: The nomination of the Board members was unusually carried out with the involvement and mutual consent of political parties which will be contesting in the up-coming elections; the Board has coordinated the best experiences from the last elections as well as the experiences of other countries   and to the objective realities of the country; the electoral officers have been recruited, deployed and trained. While the executive capacity of the Board with limited resource and personnel as was the case in the last elections admired by external bodies like the Carter Center, the Board is now in a better position to conduct elections of the higher quality more than any other time.

The New Impetus towards Robust Multi-Party System

Ethiopia has successfully conducted so far three general elections since its introduction of multi-party system as part of the overall democratic changes brought about after the demise of the last dictatorship in 1991. At this moment, the country is preparing to hold the Fourth General Elections. The main road opted by the Ethiopian peoples ever since their victory of democracy is the one in favor of the peoples’ right to self-administration. That is why; the Ethiopian peoples are now being administrated by leaders they elect them through free and direct elections. In short, elections in which various alternatives are presented to the peoples and compete freely and fairly with one another have been a regular phenomenon in this country since the introduction of democratic order.

 The third general elections conducted in the year 2005 were characterized by unprecedented public participation. The peoples had extensive access to various political outlooks and party programs as alternatives to choose from. With the final outcomes, oppositions had managed to get 25%; emerging nationality-based parties 11% while the ruling party secured the remaining 64%of seats in the Federal House of Peoples’ Representatives. Similarly, the ruling party was able to secure the upper hand in regional seats, while the oppositions had managed to get some. Though the electoral process was as democratic as recognized by all parties including the contestants, the public and foreign observers, the post-election incidents were marred by street violence ignited by some elements as they instantly rejected the final official electoral outcomes in a desperate move to reverse them forcefully, which ultimately led to the death of 186 civilians and 7security members.

Despite the fact that the Third National Elections were democratic as recognized by all sides, the attempt made by some elements to change the final outcomes forcefully was absolutely wrong that should never happen again. The situation has however given the nation a good lesson. It has made it imperative that all the necessary precautions have to be put in place before conducting any elections so that similar incidents would no more prevail in other elections and halt the democratic process. In line with these objectives, several activities have been carried out since post-election incidents in 2005.

The first step taken was the initiative of inter-party dialogue on vital issues that would have greater implications on the political process in Ethiopia. Thus, interparty dialogues were carried on major issues. Among them are rules of Procedures and Members  code of Conduct the House of Peoples’ Representatives, the Electoral Law of the country, establishment of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia with the consensus of contending parties, and other laws related to political parties and the media. While most of the issues discussed were endorsed much often with the consensus of rival political parties, differences were settled by majority vote rulings of the House of Peoples’ Representatives.

Partners of the inter-party dialogues were political parties that have seats in the House of Peoples’ Representatives. Namely, they were Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), Union of Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF), Ethiopians Democratic Party (Medhn), EDP, Kinjit (CUD) led by Honourable Ato Ayele Chamiso, Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement and some other allied political organizations. 

It is recalled that rules and procedures and members code of conduct of the former parliament that was to quickly dissolve in the post-elections 2005, was a subject of much criticism. Some had even dubbed it as a restrictive one to oppositions. That time, the government had pledged to revise that as well as some other pertinent laws. Thus, in line with its pledge, the first thing the government has done was reviewing them vis-à-vis to similar laws of other democratic countries. And no doubt, the initial reviews were made by foreign consultants as per the government’s promise. Thus the studies, which had extensively provided comparisons and contrasts were compiled and distributed to the negotiating political parties. Thus, capitalizing on the compiled reports, the parties had a two-month long dialogue on the Code of  conduct of the House during which they have introduced several inputs. At the end of the day, an inter-party consensus was reached to enrich the democratic provisions in the first proclamation and to make some new entries. Major new entries made by the inter-party dialogue to the  Code of Conduct of the House include, motioning system, question hour, wherein the Prime Minister and other ministers prevail themselves to parliamentary question-answer sessions, the Opposition Day, when the oppositions have unmatched privilege of airing their views, the establishment of joint forum of political parties with parliamentary seats and more than 10 members, as well as the reorganization  and redistribution of task in the parliamentary standing committees in a way it ensures wider participation of the oppositions. That was why the parliament has featured itself over the last four years as a House where in the majority ruled while the oppositions exercised their right to be heard.

The other major step taken as a result of the inter-party dialogue was the amendment of the Electoral Law of the country. Though the law was basically perfect, amending some of its provisions through the involvement of all political parties was believed to have been a cornerstone in cementing the foundation for mutual understanding and confidence among political actors. Thus, an inter-party dialogue was carried out with the objective of amending the electoral law of the country. The subject of the dialogue was again a proposal drafted by foreign experts who analyzed the experiences of other democratic countries. As a result of the dialogue, while some of the democratic provisions in the original law were kept as they were, other new provisions which all the political parties believed as vital were included without contravening the Constitution. Among the new entries are the one referring to the nomination of members of National Electoral Board of Ethiopia.

Basically Article 102 of the Constitution of the Federal democratic Republic of Ethiopia gives the mandate to the Prime Minister to propose candidates for membership of the Electoral Board on the basis of profession and non-partisanship. Of course, that is subject to the endorsement of the House of Peoples’ Representatives. This is constitutional provision that can never be transgressed by whatever interests.

Be that as it may, involving all the political parties in the nomination of board members had been felt important in consolidating the democratic process in this country. And, that was no more a goodwill but a reality. Indeed, what we have right now in this country is an Electoral Board set up with the involvement and consent of political parties.

The process was as follow: Honorable Bulcha Demeksa, one of the opposition leaders was made to play a chairmanship role in collecting the names of all possible candidates proposed by each political party. Then, each of specific proposals was redistributed to the other party so that every one of them scrutinized the proposals of others and finally came up with a compromised selection of one’s own.  That was how, names of 12 nominees who have got the acceptance of all the parties were forwarded to the Prime Minister, who ultimately submitted nine of them to the House of Peoples’ Representatives that ultimately endorsed them as Members of the functional National Electoral Board of Ethiopia. Thus, what we have today is a nine-member Board, whose  three members  were initially proposed by the Oppositions and later approved by the consent of the ruling party and the remaining six initially proposed by the ruling party and later approved by the consent of the Oppositions. In short, the current Electoral Board is in deed an independent and non-partisan institution responsible for undertaking elections in the country means that the decisions made by the Board are likely to be accepted by all contending parties in the elections.

The inter-party dialogue has extended itself to encompass even the strategic plan of the Electoral Board, which was again drafted by foreign experts, and actually led to its endorsement with important amendments. Major differences that manifested amid the process were whether the Electoral Board at district level should have permanent staff. The ruling party and some of the oppositions have favored for the prevalence of permanent structure at the central, regional and probably up to the zonal levels and opposed permanent staff beyond on the argument that would make tens of thousands idle for every five years, on the one hand, and would cost the country a huge amount, on the other.  That was against the stands of some of the oppositions who argued for the creation of permanent staff at the district level regardless of the costs. Finally their differences were resolved by Majority Ruling of the parliament.

Similarly, the party and media rule(s) had undergone through inter-party dialogue. Minor differences that were manifested in the dialogue on the specific areas were ultimately resolved by majority rulings of the House.

In general, the new manifestations in the political process of Ethiopia as of 2005 prove how some of the rules of the game have been redrawn by inter-party dialogue and hence how reliable foundations have been created for the establishment of a robust multi-party system in the country. Though some tried to portray the democratic process in the country as back-pedaling, genuine exploration of differences in the pre- third and the pre-fourth elections proves the ever improving political environment for legally registered political parties determined for peaceful political struggle.

Thus, it is with such a conducive environment that the fourth general elections are to take place. That is because the Government of Ethiopia has recognized from the outset that there is no substitute to a true democratic system. The fact that the political process in Ethiopia is ever-consolidating and not deteriorating as some tried to portray is simply because of the government’s commitment for the prevalence of robust democratic order in the country. 

The Rise and Progress of Multi-Party System in Ethiopia

Human beings constitute a major resource of a country. It is also true that human beings naturally differ from one another in their views and outlooks. As long as there are opportunities that can accommodate the different outlooks of human beings for the common good of all, the different outlooks will certainly make a good asset for the social, economic and political transformation of a society. The role multi-party system can play in this regard is quite immense. Actually using various outlooks for a common good was the rationale behind the conception of multi-party system in the world.

It is also a universally acknowledged truth that human beings in this world of scarce natural resource, can live in harmony with their environment and enjoy prosperous life if they really manage to handle properly and capitalize on the variety of outlooks for their own common good. That was the practical experience of great and industrialized nations that were able to institutionalize multi-party system long before they realize their overall development.

No wonder, multi-party system has got wider acceptance, particularly at this age of globalization when it has even been considered as a means of fostering mutual cooperation and development even among various countries.

Ethiopia is an emerging democracy that has been striving to bring about a robust multi-party system only since barely a couple of decades ago. Though the country has relatively longer history in elections, which was believed to have started almost a century ago, at the time of the monarchy, the concept of multi-party system is only a recent phenomenon. The country had generally been characterized by absence of accommodating various outlooks for almost all of its history. As a result of that grim reality, the country was characterized by protracted civil wars, which were basically the off-shots of different outlooks that could have peacefully been resolved had there been multi-party system in the country.

In short, multi-party system is a new phenomenon to Ethiopia where it was introduced barely a couple of decades ago. The very concept come to the political dictionary of the country in Ginbot 20, 1983, i.e. after EPRDF, the party now in power and which, coordinated the protracted armed struggle of the Ethiopian peoples, overthrew the military regime and controlled the country. After the liberation, EPRDF took the bold initiative of summoning all other armed groups and political organizations operating in and outside of the country to discuss and decide the fate of the country. That was really the first event that heralded the beginning of the round table discussions among various political forces and outlooks. That discussion was actually historic for it  led to the establishment of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) that involved the various stakeholders and earlier to the adoption of the TGE Charter in Sene 1983, heralding the prospect ahead the country would have for flourishing  multi-party system.

Then, the first step taken in consolidating the infant multi-party system was the establishment of the Electoral Commission with the proclamation number 11/1984 as per the provision of the Charter of the transitional period, as an independent and non-partisan institution responsible for accommodating a level play field among various outlooks so that the public would decide to elect whomsoever as their leaders.

Among the elections undertaken by the Commission was the Constitutional Assembly, which was composed of representatives elected by the peoples of Ethiopia for adopting the Constitution of the country, which was adopted on Hidar 24, 1987, as an emblem of the sovereignty of nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia.

Among the plethora of democratic and human rights provided by the Constitution is the right to form political groups or join any political parties as well as the right to promote one’s outlooks whether privately or in group. The situation encouraged Ethiopians to express their ideas freely and form political groups to their likes which ultimately led to a boom in political groups.

With the prevalence of a conducive environment as such, a total of three general elections were contested by a great multitude of political groups. In the mean time, several measures have also been introduced to consolidate the emerging multi-party system in line with the provisions of the Constitution and with the objective of consolidating it further.

As parts of such effort, the electoral law of the country has been amended to the extent of allowing the involvement of  political parties in nominating NEBE’s members so as to ensure the Board’s independence, non-partisanship and efficiency to conduct free, air, democratic and legitimate elections in the country.

The participation of political organizations in the overall political activities of the country was effective since the issuance of the first law of political parties’ registration proclamation number 46/85 at the transitional period. And it has been intensifying ever since.

The number of political parties that contested for Constitutional Assembly in the elections held in 1986 E.C was 41. Out of them, 37 political parties with a total of 510 elected representatives were able to constitute the Assembly.

A year later, when the First General Elections were held in 1987 E.C., there existed a total of 64 legally registered political parties including seven that were operating country wide. Among them, 57 had contested in the elections while 43 of them were able to secure seats at the federal parliament and regional councils.

In the Second General Elections of 1992 E.C.,  49 political parties contested with the fielding of 700 candidates for the federal parliament and 2,052 candidates for the regional councils.

The Third General Elections, which took place in 1997 E.C, were unprecedented in terms of participation of voters and contesting political parties. That time, the number of political parties legally registered were 84, including 19 that were operating country wide. Among them, 35 political organizations contested with the field of 1,558 candidates for the federal House and 3,983 candidates for the regional councils.

In the run up to the Fourth General Elections which will take place on Ginbot 15, 2002, there have been a total of 75 political organizations legally registered, including 23 that are operating country wide. Out of the total number, 63 political organizations have fielded 2,178 candidates for the Federal House and 4,730 candidates for the Regional Houses.

The number of contesting parties, as was the case, is usually lower than the number of legally registered ones. But that is because of regroupings of political parties usually made at the height of election in the form of coalitions, unions, fronts etc in an effort to pull joint strength.

Though the multi-party system in Ethiopia is said to be at its infancy, the participation of political organizations in the political process of the country has steadily been intensifying over time. The fact that the political parties are trying to pull their energies together as was the case at the height of election fevers, means that robust multi-party system is  within the reach of this country as long as all the political parties commit themselves for positive changes.