Ethiopia: Opposition call for new elections

Posted on Wednesday 26 May 2010 - 12:24

Muhyadin Ahmed Roble, AfricaNews reporter in Nairobi, Kenya
Ethiopia's opposition leaders have called for a re-run of Sunday's poll, saying they were not free and fair. Merera Gudina, head of Ethiopia's main opposition said that they will not accept the results, which gave Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to lead the country for another five years.

"We will not accept the results and we will call for (a new) election," Merara Gudina, a main leader of the eight-member Medrek opposition coalition told AFP.
Earlier, another opposition leader Hailu Shawel has also called for re-run elections.
Early results show that Ethiopia's ruling party has won 499 of the 536 seats that were being contested.
On Tuesday, thousands of ruling party followers took to the streets of Addis Ababa to celebrate Zenawi’s ladslide victory.
The EU and US have both criticised the elections, and said they fell short of international standards. An EU report said political freedoms were restricted and criticised the ruling party’s use of state resources in its campaign.
New York-based Human Rights Watch had also criticized Sunday's poll as corrupted by pre-election irregularities but government officials have denied charges of rigging Election.
In 2005, violence killed some 200 people after opposition parties who claim of fraud triggered clashes with police.