Ethiopian politics is slowly reaching to its tipping point as the next national election comes closer. It often is the case that the political climate changes so fast in the era of election as compared to any other time. Even those individuals that prefer to stay away from politics would get attracted to it that they may surprisingly find themselves at the core of it all.
None other than the announcement by the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE), the authoritative unit for elections, of the tentative schedule for the next election marked the exact time span for the next election. The disclosure, which happened last week, was a defining event, in and of itself, as it sets the pace for the race to political power.
For the NEBE, the disclosure marks the start of yet another era of essential responsibility. Managing an election, be it local or national, is not an easy task in a country like Ethiopia. It requires considerable institutional capacity to seamlessly plan, execute and monitor complex sets of activities. Making things all the more complex are the partisan interests that would like to pull the strings in their favour.
To it favour, the electoral board has rich experience under its belt. The multiple elections that it has overseen over the past two decades, regardless of how much their results were disputed, have enabled it with the skills, capabilities and instruments necessary for conducting credible elections.
A typical case in point, in this regard, could be the national election conducted in 2009. In the election that saw the ruling coalition win in landslide, the performance of the NEBE in managing the election was praised by both national and international observers. Its logistic management received praise from all directions.
Surely, the job of an electoral authority could not be more difficult anywhere than in Ethiopia, which is slightly smaller than South Africa, but twice the size of Kenya, France or Texas. A dominant mountainous topography means formidable obstacles for communications, logistic and hence management. Undeveloped infrastructure base and toddling local institutions further the challenges of the NEBE.
It is under these inherent challenges that the NEBE conducts its job. To the amazement of its critics, however, the Board has continued to adopt itself to the challenges and stand tall against most of them. This, however, does not mean that it is as perfect as it should be.
Its critics still see it just as a natural extension of the ruling EPRDF, which, for them, is an elephant in the house with shadows extending to every corner. They strongly doubt the impartiality of the Board and mention all sorts of cases to accuse it of incessant loyalty to the dominant party. Yet, the board dismisses all of them as nonsensical rhetoric.
Thus, the latest announcement of the schedule for the next national election came on top of these contradicting faces of the NEBE. Not so surprisingly, it was on the very event that oppositions started to soar. Some of the opposition parties invited for the discussion on the tentative schedule went out of the talks, claiming that there are more important issues that require discussion.
The issues the parties claim need discussion are all related to the unevenness of the political space. For them, the current political space is not conducive to conduct democratic elections. They attribute the unevenness of the political space to the deliberate and repressive acts of the ruling coalition, such as silencing dissent, detainment of political activists and journalists on politically motivated charges, obstructing grassroots advocacy and so on.
Democratic elections, their argument goes, could not happen without resolving these pertinent problems that remain to narrow the political space, if not completely reduce it down to a one party show. Hence, they request for the NEBE to play the role of a facilitator in redressing their concerns than just talking about the sequence of actions for elections.
The NEBE does not reject the concerns altogether. But it does not want them to be prerequisites for taking part in the elections. The NEBE seems to think that discussing elements of the election, including the schedule, ought to be separated from resolving concerns on the broader political space. The two are not one and the same.
In the eyes of the ruling EPRDF, though, the voices of the opposition are nonsensical claims from a camp that fails to provide the electorate with clear policy alternatives. They are just attempts by weak, dysfunctional and fractured opposition, overwhelmed with personalised infightings, to delegitimise authorities established under the very laws of the land. If anything, therefore, the claims are signs of hopelessness.
Regardless of the arguments, though, it is obvious that the national political space needs improvement. Things are not as conducive as they ought to be. This, of course, does not mean that things are as unwelcoming as the political opposition would have liked them be perceived. There still are untapped opportunities that could be seized for better political outcome.
The NEBE’s effort to produce a tentative schedule for election as early as possible is a positive step in its own. By adopting their activities to the schedule, political parties could effectively run their election campaigns and plan their grassroots outreach. Cognisant of the fact that time is of essence in any election, having an agreed upon schedule is essential for running effective, efficient and impactful campaigns.
In contrast, failure to adapt activities to election schedules could lead to disorganised campaigns that result in nothing other than defeat. It is impossible to run effective campaigns without considering time as an essential input.
But this does not mean other elements are not important. Surely, democratic elections demand a level playing field for all political parties. All parties need to have the operational freedom to inform citizens about the alternatives they stand for. Needless to say, they need to be accounted by free and independent media.
The political space ought to also be conducive to activists and journalists. The state ought to provide essential protection to the grassroots operation of political parties and activists. Access to essential resources ought to also be opened to all political parties.
Acts that could limit the dynamicity of the political space ought to be avoided. State structures need to serve all parties equally. Complaints need to be addressed with openness, flexibility, impartiality and lawfulness.
In view of these requirements, therefore, there is so much that needs to improve in the political space of the nation. But none of it is the job of the NEBE or the ruling EPRDF only.
It rather requires concerted actions by all parties, including opposition political parties. If the objective is to give citizens the right choices to choose from, then, it needs a joint action by the NEBE, the EPRDF and the opposition political parties.
Each of them needs to work hard to create the essential platforms to resolve their differences. They need to also take their fair share of responsibility to make the upcoming election free, fair, democratic and credible.
After all, democratic election is a work to get in and a work to triumph over. It is this work that both the opposition and the ruling party ought to recognise. And making the work easier is the job of the NEBE.
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