‘Of Elections and Diapers in Ethiopia ‘ (Awramba Times)

...But there is an olive branch extended to the opposition wrapped in condescending cordiality and paternalism. Now that the opposition has been vanquished, they will be allowed to lick the crumbs off the table (and the shoes of the victors) as long as they keep their tails between their legs. “We make this pledge to all the parties who did not succeed in getting the support of the people, during this election, that whether or not you have won seats in the parliament, as long as you respect the will of the people and the country’s Constitution and other laws of the land, we will work by consulting and involving you in all major national issues. We are making this pledge not only because we believe that we should be partners… [but also] you have the right to participate and to be heard.” In other words, we will let you speak, if we want to; and we’ll shut you up when we want to. Your political existence depends on our good will, whim and fancy. Read more...

Nineteen more, Prime Minister Meles (Foreign Intrigue Blog)

By Ed Royce U.S Representative

,...Clearly, our real allies are the brave Ethiopian men and women fighting the rot of years of Meles' unchecked reign. Aid them. Sadly, power has gotten to the point of absolutely corrupting Meles' 19-year rule. Read full story..

ከምርጫው በስተጀርባ - አንዳንድ ነጥቦች (ተስፋዬ ገብረአብ){Cyber Ethiopia})

ግንቦት 25፣ 2002 በፕሮፌሰር ይስሃቅ ኤፍሬምና በአትሌት ሃይሌ ገብረስላሴ የሚመራው የሽማግሌዎች ኮሚቴ መለስ ዜናዊን አጊኝቶ አነጋግሮት ነበር። ሽምግልናው ተቃዋሚዎችንና የመለስን ቡድን ማቀራረብ የሚል ነው። ኮሜቴው በራሱ ተነሳሽነት ተንቀሳቀሰ ወይስ በመለስ የእጅ አዙር ግፊት አይታወቅም። መለስ ዜናዊ ግን ለሽማግሌዎቹ ኮሚቴ የሚከተለውን ቃል ሰጥቶአል።

1. ተቃዋሚዎች ‘ምርጫው ተጭበርብሮአል’ ብለው ወደ ፍርድ ቤት ለመሄድ የሚያስቡትን በመተው፣ የኢህአዴግን ማሸነፍ በይፋ እንዲቀበሉ።

2. ይህን ከፈፀሙ አንዳንድ የሚንስትርነትና የአምባሳደርነት ቦታዎችን ሊያገኙ እንደሚችሉ።

3. ይህን ድርድር ከተቀበሉ ብርቱካን ሚደቅሳም ከእስር እንደምትለቀቅ።

ፖለቲካ ቁማር ነው። የሽማግሌው ቡድን ከተቃዋሚዎች ጋር የሚያደርገው ውይይትና ድርድር ወዴት እንደሚያመራ በቅርቡ የምንሰማው ይሆናል። መለስ ከሽማግሌዎቹ ጋር ባደረገው ቆይታ፣

“መረራን አጥብቃችሁ ምከሩት!” ሲል ለይቶና አፅንኦት ሰጥቶ መናገሩን ሰምቼያለሁ።Read more...

Ethiopian parties reject poll results (Daily Nation)

...“The situation was full of intimidation and irregularities deliberately orchestrated by the ruling party” Mr Beyene said.Read more...

Ethiopian Opposition Leader Faces Fierce Ruling Party Challenge (VOA)

..."If Meles's interest is to cling to power at all cost, like all African dictators from [Central Africa Republic's Jean-Bedel] Bokassa to [Uganda's] Idi Amin to [Ethiopia's] Mengistu Hailemariam, he can continue the game, and Meles can take the country down with him. Winning elections without public support, winning elections by cheating people, winning elections by fraud really should end in Africa," he said.read more...

Inside Story - Zenawi: A source of stability?(Al Jazeera)

Click here to watch

Premier’s Party Sweeps Ethiopian Vote (The Newyork Times)

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

Published: May 25, 2010

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Ethiopia appeared to solidify its return to a one-party state on Tuesday, as the country’s election board released provisional results showing Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s governing party winning nearly every seat in Sunday’s parliamentary elections....more...

Repression Is Alleged Before Vote in Ethiopia (The newyork Times)

The complaints pouring out of Ethiopia echo some of those from Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, American allies that receive hundreds of millions of dollars in aid each year.
Elections are looming in each of these countries, and though such contests are supposed to be the embodiment of democracy, they often presage harsh crackdowns. Human rights groups say strongman governments across the continent continue to use a variety of tools — arresting journalists, driving out human rights monitors and jailing opponents — to eliminate any serious political threat...read more..

Five more years (The Economist)

The government’s instinct for centralised control continues to inhibit enterprise and depress growth. Ethiopia’s state-run banks are dwarfed by private-sector banks elsewhere in Africa. Mr Zenawi claims that communications are paramount, but his government has stymied the mobile-phone revolution for its own political ends. Elsewhere in Africa, the debate is about the relative merits of Blackberries and iPhones. In Ethiopia, it is simply about getting a phone. Equally devastating is state control of the internet. Connection is costly and slow. The official in charge of the internet at the state telecoms outfit appears to be a high-ranking secret-service officer. That is to combat hackers, say flustered EPRDF officials. More likely, he is employed to spy on citizens and block websites the government does not like—which include most produced by the Ethiopian diaspora...read more...