EU Election Observation Mission to Ethiopia 2010 says May 2010 Elections were flawed

The European Union says Ethiopia's national elections in May were flawed.

The EU observation mission released its final report Monday. It says the electoral process was short of international standards concerning transparency, and that state resources were used in the ruling party's campaign. The report says opposition candidates also feared the consequences of their political activities(AP).

Key recommendations include:

• Measures are necessary to increase the participation and capacity of opposition parties,

as well as the broadening of political space in Ethiopia. The return of exiled opposition

leaders as well as the release of imprisoned opposition leaders would be important steps in this direction, restoring confidence in the democratic process. The financing of political parties and of election campaigns could be reviewed together with the implementation of capacity-building programmes for political parties, their members and their candidates.

• Steps should be taken to ensure a clear separation between the ruling party and the state and to avoid the misuse of state resources during the campaign. The NEBE should be provided with sufficient resources to reduce the need to resort to local administrative structures in electoral activities gradually, with a view to create an independent and trustworthy election management body. This would help to prevent the occurrence of abuses of power and use of state resources at the local level. Furthermore, this measure could improve the level of confidence of many opposition parties in the electoral

process.

• The voter register should be computerised for future electoral processes to allow for the implementation of essential safeguards to ensure its accuracy, as well as greater transparency by providing copies of the voter register to all political parties. The NEBE could consider the creation of a permanent and national voter register.

• The NEBE should take measures to increase the transparency of the electoral process and improve the perception that some opposition parties have of its impartiality. These measures should include publishing and communicating all electoral information to the contesting parties. The NEBE should also review some Election Day procedures, notably the design of forms and the training provided to polling station staff and constituency electoral officers to improve the consolidation process.

Full report