Over 150 Oromo opposition officials
detained in Ethiopia

7 February, 2010 | Jimma Times
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Atleast 150
    representatives and
    members of the
    opposition party
    Oromo People's
    Congress (OPC) have
    been arrested in
    Ethiopia in less than
    five months,
    according to OPC
leader Dr. Merera Gudina, who is also the chairman of Medrek
(Ethiopian Federal Democratic Unity Forum), the largest opposition
coalition in the country. Dr. Gudina told Jimma Times (JT) the abuses
are spreading and the ruling party is trying to force the real opposition
out of the upcoming May 2010 election.

"As things stand now, there is no way the coming elections are going to
be free and fair" said the opposition leader, but his OPC party will still
continue to push ahead to run under the Medrek ticket.

To unify the opposition for the 2010 election, main opposition forces
created the Medrek/Forum coalition, which includes Arena Tigray for
Democracy and Sovereignty (Arena), Oromo Federalist Democratic
Movement (OFDM) and Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ),
formerly Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD). In response, the
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) ruling
party signed an election agreement with over 60 pro-government
political parties to sideline the opposition. Since then, the security and
state media have been accused of disrupting Medrek meetings and
televising alleged divisions inside the opposition.

Despite their efforts, the opposition forces remain weak and
underfunded. Dr. Gudina, who visited the Diaspora in North America
last November, said he was not satisfied with the amount of support his
party received from the passive Oromia Diaspora. His OPC party is
mostly based in the Shewa regions of Oromia where over 6 million
predominantly Orthodox Christian Oromos live. Compared to the
support inside Oromia, Dr. Gudina said the Diaspora support was "very
little," even though his OPC party needed their financial assistance for
"survival."  In July of 2009, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's EPRDF
ruling party established a new regulation in public funding for political
parties to further cripple the opposition financially. The change of the
law forces opposition parties to return the public money they spent for
election campaigning if they decide to boycott or withdraw from the
election due to human rights abuses. OPC and other opposition groups
of the Medrek coalition have demanded the release of dozens of their
members, including political prisoner and UDJ chairwoman Judge
Birtukan Mideksa.

“This last minute change on the bill was intentionally done so that all the
parties, with the intimidation and severe harassment they may suffer,
are forced to participate in elections just to keep the ruling party
company," added UDJ representative MP Birru.

Many Ethiopians hope for a powersharing deal between Medrek and
EPRDF, to end one-party control of the security and government
institutions in Ethiopia. But analysts expect Meles Zenawi's ruling party
to rigg the 2010 election and share parliament seats with government
loyalists or with over 60 parastatal "opposition" parties created by the
EPRDF ruling party. The last election in 2005 ended with atleast 200
protesters shot dead by EPRDF security forces after international
observers concluded Meles lost the election.
All rights reserved.
Ethio Quest News
Together We Can Make It!
Ethio Quest News:
For latest Ethiopian News, views,
Reviews and More
You need Java to see this applet.
A Career In Dissent







" Mideksa became the exception
to the rule in September, When she was elected to
head Ethiopia's newest political party..."
More