"Our participation will only have the effect of giving undue legitimacy to the election."
Dr. Merera Gudina, UEDF deputy chairman

Dr. Merera Gudina is deputy chairman of the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF) and chairman of the Oromo People's Congress (OPC) which is one of the constituting parties of UEDF.

He says that there are widespread intimidation and acts of violence against UEDF candidates that were registered for the upcoming local and by-elections. He insists that if things do not  improve, his party could boycott the election.

Dr. Merera spoke to Bruck Shewareged about the alleged intimidations and other problems surrounding the election. Excerpts:

You are threatening to withdraw from local and by-elections. Are things that bad that you have to quit?

We are preparing to withdraw from the election. During our last press conference, we mentioned seven problems that have to be tackled by the National Electoral Board (NEB). It appears now that the NEB is not willing to resolve the problem, or may not be capable of doing so.

One of the problems for us was lack of impartiality of the electoral board. Article 102 of the constitution says that election officials must carry out their duties with impartiality. However, according to the information we have, election officials at different levels have some sort of connection with the ruling party. They are either members or supporters of the ruling party, EPRDF.

These election officials have tried everything possible in order to make it impossible for our candidates to be registered for the election. We asked for the replacement of such election officials by others. But the board doesn't seem to be willing or capable of doing that.

The second issue that needs to be resolved is the election of observers. According to the revised electoral law, election observers should be elected from amongst the public in the presence of all sides, including opposition parties.

We have no knowledge of such elections taking place. At least, we haven't taken part in any event to elect election observers from amongst the public. We request the election of observes to take place according to the election law. As far as we know such observers were not elected but assigned or selected by local administrators.

The third problem is the absence of either local or foreign observers during the registration period. Such observers might be present on election day. Maybe EPRDF affiliated  groups like youth forums could be present on election day.

But we believe that observes should monitor the whole process. Observing how people cast their ballots on election day only won't do.

The fourth point is that all possible hurdles were put on our way in order to bar our candidates from being registered. And even some of those who were registered were later de-registered. Some candidates were disqualified on the ground that they have no "proof" to ascertain that they were born or have lived long enough in their respective localities. Some were told that they are not 21 years old, the minimum age for being elected. School directors usually determine the ages of candidates, although they have no role in determining the age of candidates, according to the law.

In worse cases, there were kidnappings of candidates until the deadline for registration reached. For example, one of our candidates in Fincha woreda of East Wollega was beaten up. The second candidate who replaced him was in turn apprehended for a day and was forced to quit the race. The third candidate was also detained and spent nine days as a prisoner in nine different places. After the deadline for registration passed, he was released.

Even our party's members who are parliamentarians were beaten up. We thought that parliamentarians have immunity. So we decided it is better if one of our MPs called Asfaw go there and try to have our candidates registered. But he was beaten up and his mobile phone, money, as well as his parliamentary ID taken away. We asked for the restoration of his ID. We did so through the office of the House Speaker and the electoral board. We also notified the police. But so far we couldn't get his ID back.

Another MP called Gutu was also beaten up in West Shoa. In Gedeo zone, another MP, Dejene Tafa, was shot at. In Ambo, an armed civilian shot at my nephew who is participating in the election. Nothing was done about it. There are many more instances of intimidation and harassment.

As a result, we were not able to have one percent of our candidates registered compared to the original number of candidates  we wanted to field.

How many of yours members have been jailed?

During the election process, around 350 party members have been jailed. Local coordinators, including the party's central committee member, were jailed. Before that, around 140 members were still languishing in jail for years. They were arrested in connection with the previous election in 2005.

In Hadya zone, they set the house of a party member ablaze while he was still in the house. Luckily, he broke out through the back door and run for his life. In the same zone, a woman lost her goats that were given to her through the safety net programme because she did not force her husband to withdraw from the election. As you know, in the Ethiopian culture, it is difficult for a wife to dictate the actions of her husband.

All these problems were created just to make it impossible for our candidates to register for election. If you can't have your candidates registered, how can you participate in the election; Our participation will only have the effect of giving undue legitimacy to the election.

There are other stifling measures taken against us. For instance, the Ministry of Information considers the number of seats that a party has in parliament as one variable when it equates the formula to allocate air time on TV and radio. Our umbrella party, UEDF, has about fifty seats in parliament but the ministry considers it to be just twelve. This reduces our air time allocation.

There are complaints that a new code of conduct for the election has been issued, which some say is very restrictive?

Well, there are certain rules that you respect during campaigning. We know that you can't campaign in schools while students are in classrooms. You can't campaign on market days. We know these rules because they are in the election laws. Recently they came up with new codes. For instance, you can't put your posters on polls. You can't campaign in so many places. These are restrictive measures. For instance, a policeman can tell you to stop campaigning because it is a "market day". Practically, it is difficult to campaign.

This is apart from widespread beatings and intimidations. We've notified the electoral board about these problems every step of the way. They tell us to bring evidence. And when we come up with evidence, the board usually rejects us. As I said carlier, the  board is either incapable or unwilling to give a solution to the problem.

How many candidates have UEDF fielded so far?

Relatively few. In the list that the board showed to embassies, UEDF has registered more than 10,000 candidates. I tell you, I don't know where they got that figure. It's become ridiculous to participate in the election because it has turned in to a children's game.

So, have you decided to quit?

We are moving towards adopting that option.

In your opinion, what is the problem with the electoral board? Is it lack of will or capacity?

As a political science student, I would say it is both. The way the board has been structured is not free and impartial. We announced that the board of NEB could not be independent when preparations were made to put the current board into office.

The ruling party is playing both as contesting party and as election management official.

Won't you be even more out of the political picture as a result of your decision to withdraw from the election?

We are asking for a level playing field. If the field is not even, you have the right to boycott the election. Maybe if we withdraw from the next election, we could be suspended since the election law says that any party which boycotts elections for two successive seasons, will have its license revoked.

So, can't you be easily intimidated into  withdrawing again and have your license revoked as a result?

Well, the struggle continues, whether our party or others carry it. The struggle will continue until a government that gets the Ethiopian people's trust comes to power.

A lot of people seem to be tired of hearing about opposition parties' complaints instead of doing something substantive. Aren't you a bit worried about your image?

Well, we see it the other way round. What really destroys our image is to participate in the election and serve as a legitimizing tool. What we hear is that our stand commands respect amongst the public.

In 2005, when it was politically difficult to join parliament, we decided to do just that. And we paid for it politically to some extent. But if you take this election, it has no resemblance of an election.

The people know that it is not a real election. Probably, the ruling party knows it, too. We don't want to serve as a cover for such election. If we take part in such an election, we will lose respect in the eyes of the people.

For this election, more than 27 million voters have been registered, according to NEB, ie. more than the previous election even though there is markedly less enthusiasm about the election amongst the public. Are you comfortable with that number?

That's EPRDF's statistics. They only know the exact number of voters. For instance, the number of registered voters was hovering around 13 and 14 million. Then it suddenly jumped to its present number within three or four days. That increase is astronomical. I think, they want to show that the number of registered voters is greater than the previous one.

We, at one time, suggested  the creation of voters' list. That way you can avoid many problems. There won't be the controversy of  credibility as regards the real number of voters. You won't have a problem regarding the age of voters and candidates if you have that list. You don't start from scratch during every election when it comes to registering voters.

Would you tell us of your opinion about the new arrangement for voting observers?

Well, there are going to be five observers chosen from amongst the public. Then five will be election officials. Then one representative from each contesting parties will be there to observe.  So in areas where we fielded candidates, there will be at least twelve observers, including EPRDF's. But in reality, our observers are outnumbered 11-1 in each constituencies. Eleven of them are probably EPRDF. The election result could be easily manipulated, and that result will be endorsed by the so-called observers.

The former arrangement was better. Each candidate used to have his own observer. But now it's a different story.

Where did the worst type of intimidation and acts of violence occur?

West Shoa zone is the worst, so far. Then East Wollega and South West Shoa come second and third. Anyway, wherever we are more active, so is the intimidation.

The thinking behind the intimidation is to deprive opposition parties of candidates. If candidates withstand the pressure and endure until voting day, the people could elect them. That will be a problem for the ruling party. So the best way to ensure that will not to happen is to force opposition candidates out of the race. Some candidates were forced to hand over the IDs which identify them as contestants. In Gedeo zone, for example, I came across three party members who were detained by the police. They were asked to hand over their election IDs. They refused, of course.

In some places you would come across a man running a campaign while his wife is serving as election official in the same district. There is clearly conflict of interest here. But it is tolerated by the authorities.

You may ask, "Why would the ruling party EPRDF be hell-bent on going to the extreme to win the election?" The answer is this. After the May, 15, 2005 election, EPRDF made a self-assessment and reached a conclusion that it cannot win the election. So it has to weaken the relatively strong opposition parties.

Have you fielded candidates for kebele elections, or is it only for the by-elections only?

We did not participate in the kebele elections. During the military rule, only 15 people used to be elected for each kebele council. Then EPRDF raised the number to one hundred. Now it even raised the number further to three hundred. Just image the number of kebeles in Ethiopia.

Mind you, EPRDF has fielded nearly four million candidates for this election. Had there been a healthy political environment, the CUD and UEDF could have fielded an equal number of candidates. And if you include other parties, then the number of voters and candidates could become equal, theoretically at least. That number is not manageable.