HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

General elections were held in
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
on 7 and 18 May 1995 for seats in its
Council of People's Representatives The House of Peoples' Representatives is the lower house of the Ethiopian Federal Parliamentary Assembly. Located in the capital Addis Ababa, the House has 547 members. All are elected in theory for five-year term in single-seat constituencies. T ...
; elections in the Afar, Somali, and
Harari Region The Harari Region ( Harari: ሀረሪ ሁስኒ; ; ), officially the Harari People's National Regional State ( Harari: ዚሀረሪ ኡምመት ሁስኒ ሁኩማ; am, የሐረሪ ሕዝብ ብሔራዊ ክልላዊ መንግሥት; om, Moo ...
s were delayed until 28 June to assign experienced personnel who could solve possible conflicts and irregularities. This was the first regular multi-party election in Ethiopian history, and the first election since the adoption of a permanent constitution the previous December. Several opposition parties boycotted the election,"Monthly Situation Report for Ethiopia: May 1995"
UNDP-EUE (accessed 19 January 2009)
including the
All-Amhara People's Organization The All-Amhara People's Organization or AAPO is an ethnic based political party in Ethiopia, created in 1993 by Asrat Woldeyes. Creation The All-Amhara People's Organization was created by Asrat Woldeyes in 1993 to try to limit the domination of ...
,
Council of Alternative Forces for Peace and Democracy in Ethiopia A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...
, and
Ethiopian Democratic Unity Party The Ethiopian Democratic Party () is a political party in Ethiopia. The result of no less than five mergers of liberal and conservative liberal opposition parties, it could trace its roots to the Ethiopian Democratic Union, which mounted armed mon ...
.


Background

After President
Mengistu Haile Mariam Mengistu Haile Mariam ( am, መንግሥቱ ኀይለ ማሪያም, pronunciation: ; born 21 May 1937) is an Ethiopian politician and former army officer who was the head of state of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991 and General Secretary of the Work ...
fled the country, a national conference in July 1991 led to the creation of the
Transitional Government of Ethiopia The Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) was an era established immediately after the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) seized power from the Marxist-Leninist People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE) in 1991. D ...
(TGE). The TGE's main goal was to establish a Constitution for a
federal republic A federal republic is a federation of states with a republican form of government. At its core, the literal meaning of the word republic when used to reference a form of government means: "a country that is governed by elected representatives ...
, as well as create orderly elections for the legislative arm of that republic. On 5 January 1995, the
National Election Board of Ethiopia The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) () is an autonomous federal government agency which supervises the national elections of Ethiopia. The NEBE was established by Proclamation number 64/1992, and answers to the House of Peoples' R ...
(NEBE) set the date for the general elections which would mark the end of the transition, for May of that year. Observers considered it a foregone conclusion that the majority of the 547 seats in the
House of People's Representatives The House of Peoples' Representatives is the lower house of the Ethiopian Federal Parliamentary Assembly. Located in the capital Addis Ababa, the House has 547 members. All are elected in theory for five-year term in single-seat constituencies. T ...
would be won by the ruling coalition known as the
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF; am, የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝቦች አብዮታዊ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ግንባር, translit=Ye’Ītiyop’iya Ḥizibochi Ābiyotawī Dīmokirasīyawī Ginibari) was an eth ...
(EPRDF), which had assumed power after overthrowing President Mengistu and had been the dominant force in the TGE. Primary opposition came from the small
Ethiopian National Democratic Party Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute #Ethnicity, several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and othe ...
, led by Nebiyu Samuel. Four of the seven national parties boycotted the poll, alleging unequal conditions for the various contending groups. Despite this, one source states as many as 2871 candidates competed for seats,Ethiopia Parliamentary Chamber: Elections held in 1995
PARLINE database (accessed 20 October 2009)
although the NEBE reported 2741 candidates competed, consisting of 1881 people from 58 political organizations, mostly components of the EPRDF, and 960 independent candidates. To handle the millions of citizens who came to cast their votes, 40,000 polling stations were opened. In addition to local observers Britain, the United States, Italy, France, Sweden, Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, Canada, Finland, Norway, and Russia provided observers and the
Organization of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; french: Organisation de l'unité africaine, OUA) was an intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 signatory governments. One of the main heads for OAU's ...
deployed 81 observers. The election process was reported to be peaceful with a high turnout in most polling stations throughout the country. Despite this impression of civil behavior, candidates of the
Silte People's Democratic Unity Party Silt'e (also transliterated Silte) can refer to: * Silt'e people of Ethiopia; * Silt'e language, which they speak; * Silte Zone, where most live; * Silte (woreda) Silti (ስልጢ) is one of the woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, an ...
were harassed, beaten, and prohibited from travelling; Dr.
Asrat Woldeyes Asrat Woldeyes (Amharic: አስራት ወልደየስ ; June 20, 1928 – May 14, 1999) was an Ethiopian surgeon, a professor of medicine at Addis Ababa University, and the founder and leader of the All-Amhara People's Organization (AAPO). He was j ...
, secretary-general of the
All-Amhara People's Organization The All-Amhara People's Organization or AAPO is an ethnic based political party in Ethiopia, created in 1993 by Asrat Woldeyes. Creation The All-Amhara People's Organization was created by Asrat Woldeyes in 1993 to try to limit the domination of ...
, was arrested, convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment for being at a meeting at which armed activities against the TGE were allegedly discussed; and officials of the
Ethiopian Democratic Unity Party The Ethiopian Democratic Party () is a political party in Ethiopia. The result of no less than five mergers of liberal and conservative liberal opposition parties, it could trace its roots to the Ethiopian Democratic Union, which mounted armed mon ...
were arrested in
Gondar Gondar, also spelled Gonder (Amharic: ጎንደር, ''Gonder'' or ''Gondär''; formerly , ''Gʷandar'' or ''Gʷender''), is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on t ...
and
Bahir Dar Bahir Dar ( amh, ባሕር ዳር, 3=sea shore) is the capital city of Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Bahir Dar is one of the leading tourist destinations in Ethiopia, with a variety of attractions in the nearby Lake Tana and Blue Nile river. The ci ...
.


Results

The EPRDF and its allies won 471 of the 547 seats in the Council, with other parties and independents taking the remaining 75 seats. Most of these seats won by other parties were in "frontier regions" – Afar, Somali, Gambela, Benishagul-Gumuz, and Harar – which were allocated 57 seats. "Competitions in these frontier regions tended to be extremely complicated," notes Lyon, who records such incidents as two brothers who, at one point, offered different candidate lists for the
Afar Liberation Front The Afar Liberation Front (abbreviated ALF) is an Afar political party and former militant group in Ethiopia. It fought the communist Derg government and the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia from 1975 to 1991. After the Ethiopian Civi ...
.Lyons, "Closing the Transition", p. 138


References

{{Ethiopian elections
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
General election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
General elections in Ethiopia May 1995 events in Africa Election and referendum articles with incomplete results