Addis Ababa (dpa) – Judging from the campaign posters in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian parliamentary elections on Sunday look almost like a single-party poll.
Nearly all the large posters advertise the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), a former rebel movement that swept to power in 1991 after ousting left-wing dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam.
“I will not go to vote. Nothing will change anyway, no matter who I vote for,” said Berhanu, a taxi driver.
The EPRDF won the 2010 elections with 99.6 per cent of the vote amid accusations of fraud, leaving only one seat in parliament to the opposition.
In the 2005 election, the opposition’s share of seats had increased from 12 to 172 and post-election protests against alleged fraud turned violent.
While 58 parties are contesting Sunday’s elections, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to face little, if any, opposition challenge in Africa’s second-most populous nation.
A record 36.8 million people in the country of 94 million have registered to vote. Electoral authority chairman Merga Bekana sees this as a sign that “Ethiopians are determined to build democracy.”
But Felix Horne, an Ethiopia expert at Human Rights Watch, says that “there could be high voter disillusionment and a high voter turnout.”
“Many people [feel they] are expected to vote, even if they don’t have a genuine choice over who to vote for,” he said.
The African Union will be the only major international organization monitoring the elections, with Addis Ababa arguing that the presence of European or US observers would cast doubt on the credibility of African observers.
Human rights groups and press freedom watchdogs regard Ethiopia as one of Africa’s most-repressive regimes. At least 19 journalists and bloggers languish in prison, while in 2014 six publications closed down and more than 30 journalists went into exile, according to Human Rights Watch.
Many of the jailed journalists were charged with terrorism-related offences. Opposition politicians have also been imprisoned. Rachel Nicholson from Amnesty International says there are “frequent reports of the use of torture and other ill-treatment against perceived dissenters.”
“Since the 2005 elections, the environment for freedom of expression and association has steadily deteriorated,” said Nicholson.
“While political parties have generally been able to participate in election campaigning, there are reports of intimidation and harassment of opposition political party members and supporters,” she added.
The east African country has been praised for its economic growth, which has averaged at 11 per cent over the past decade and has been fuelled mainly by the services and agriculture sectors and public investment.
This growth has helped to cut poverty rates, but nearly 30 per cent of the population still lives in extreme poverty, according to the World Bank.
Ethiopia remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Many people live in mud huts, and subsistence farmers struggle to eke out a living from tiny plots vulnerable to drought.
Critics say access to employment, development aid and educational opportunities is highly politicized, with the ruling party using that as a means to gain support.
Desalegn is credited with improving roads, internet connections and with raising Ethiopia’s international profile. But many see him as a weak figure, and it is not certain he will head the eventual next EPRDF government.
Parliament elects the prime minister, who calls the shots, while the presidency is only ceremonial.
Many of the votes for the EPRDF are expected to come from the countryside, where people have even less possibilities than city dwellers of making an informed choice.
Horne, of Human Rights Watch, said: “Media is very limited outside of Addis Ababa, and residents have even fewer opportunities in rural areas to acquire independent information ahead of the election.”
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