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ETHIOPIAN ELECTION A Taste of Democracy Excerpts From the Economist Ethiopian election was freest ever. However, does the country deserve a doubling of aid, as some argue? AT ELECTIONS on May 15, Ethiopians were offered a real choice. Opposition parties fielded more candidates than ever before. The state broadcaster aired proper political debates. Foreign observers were welcomed. Weeks before the vote, opposition supporters—maybe more than a million—were allowed to march in Addis Ababa, the capital. It was the freest election ever held in Ethiopia, though that is not saying much. In the past 3,000 years, the country has spawned great civilizations, but nothing resembling a modern democracy. Only 14 years ago, it was under the grip of a Marxist regime, the Derg, whose leaders thought mass starvation a useful tool both for crushing rebellious tribes and for easing overpopulation. Since the Derg fell in 1991, Ethiopia has become a less harsh and more open society. Western donors see it as a test case for the argument, advanced by Britain and others in the run-up to the G8 summit in July, that a doubling of aid could help lift Africa out of poverty. The theory is that aid yields the best results if directed at moderately well governed countries with lots of poor inhabitants. With 71m people, Ethiopia is by far the most populous country in the bottom tenth of the UN's Human Development Index, a composite measure of poverty, ill health and basic education. (In 2004, it was ranked 170th out of 177.) Under Meles Zenawi, who toppled the Derg and now rules pragmatically as prime minister, Ethiopia is doing better. Tony Blair, Britain's prime minister, thinks so highly of Mr. Zenawi that he asked him to sit on his Commission for Africa. Donors believe that with more help (Ethiopia already gets $1 billion a year, excluding food aid) the country could take off. With aid, however, comes scrutiny. Donors prefer their clients to be democratic, and Ethiopia is imperfectly so. The ruling coalition, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), enjoys vast powers of patronage. The state owns all the land in Ethiopia. Peasants are therefore reluctant to upset anyone in a position of power for fear of being evicted, and some 85% of Ethiopians are peasants. One of two newly formed opposition groups, the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), offered a liberal alternative: campaigning, among other things, for land to be privatized. It did well in cities, winning all 23 seats in Addis Ababa, but has found it harder to sway rural voters.
alibela, a small town two days' drive north of Addis, saw a typical campaign. The first opposition candidate in the area, Destaw Kassie Gobezie, canvassed on foot because he had no car. With some polling stations as far as 95km (60 miles) away, however, he could not reach everyone. An old salt-seller in Lalibela's market told The Economist that he did not know who the candidates were. He said he would ask for advice at the polling station. Vote counting is expected to continue until June 8, but the ruling coalition was confident enough of having swept rural areas to declare victory on May 16. Two days later, the CUD retorted that on the contrary, it was on course for a famous victory. The prime minister has banned rallies in the capital for a month. Which side is really more popular is hard to say. The EPRDF gets credit for having ousted the Derg, and for delivering schools, roads, water and electricity to many over the past decade. However, the lack of secure property rights has hindered the development of larger, more productive farms. A year of poor rains still translates into millions of people needing food aid and a contraction of the whole economy. Irrigation is still rare, and the proportion of Ethiopians living in absolute poverty has fallen only slightly—from 45.5% in 1996 to 44.2% in 2000, according to the IMF. Over the past two years, however, the rains have been good and the economy has rebounded, growing by over 11% last year. Sandwiched between warring Sudan and disintegrating Somalia, Ethiopia looks admirably stable. But its border dispute with Eritrea, which exploded into a disastrous war in the late 1990s, remains unresolved. Although a UN commission in 2002 delineated the border, it remains unmarked, and both countries continue to threaten each other. This imposes a huge cost in defence spending and lost trade.
Quotes As the happiness of the people is the sole end of government, so the consent of the people is the only foundation of it. John Adams 1774 Democracy is not just a word, to be shouted at political rallies and then put back in the dictionary labor unions. Franklin D. Roosevelt Nov 4, 1940 This election is not about ideology; it’s about competence. Michael Dukakis Jul 21, 1988 Street Battles over Togo Election Opposition supporters clashed with security forces on the streets of the capital, Lome, after the former leader's son was elected president.
Protests first erupted shortly after provisional results were announced. Hospital sources told AFP news agency that 11 people had died and almost 100 people injured in Tuesday's violence. Interior Minister Katari Foli-Bazi says three soldiers have died. Phones cut One evening Mr Foli-Bazi announced that all street gatherings were banned and warned opposition leaders they would be held personally responsible for the actions of their followers. But according to the BBC's Elizabeth Blunt in Lome it may be hard for them to control the behaviour of their young militants since most of the city's telephones have been cut off. But it is a public holiday in Togo on Wednesday, celebrating the 45th anniversary of the country's independence, and many people are staying indoors, our correspondent says. The army tried to install Mr. Faure after his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema died in February, but pressure led him to step down and call an election. Ruling RPT party candidate Mr. Faure denied vote-rigging and called on the opposition to join a government of national unity. Civil war fears
"In Togo we had 152 observers, including eminent lawyers, juries, retired diplomats, very elder statesmen," Ecowas Secretary-General Mohammed ibn Chambas told the BBC's World Today programme. "Their conclusion is that yes there were some difficulties... there were incidents of violence in scattered places but by and large the Togolese people had the opportunity to express their opinion." Reconciliation The opposition rejected the results, despite reconciliatory overtures by Mr. Faure. "We call on the people to resist," said UFC secretary-general Jean-Pierre Fabre. Mr. Faure, however, urged veteran UFC leader Gilchrist Olympio to join the government. Earlier, Mr. Olympio said his party would not serve as a minority partner in any unity government. Mr. Olympio was ineligible to stand in the poll because he lives in exile following a 1992 assassination attempt. Regional powerhouse Nigeria had said that Mr. Olympio and Mr Faure had agreed to share power in a bid to calm tensions. "In Togo we had 152 observers, including eminent lawyers, juries, retired diplomats, very elder statesmen," Ecowas Secretary-General Mohammed ibn Chambas told the BBC's World Today programme. "Their conclusion is that yes there were some difficulties... there were incidents of violence in scattered places but by and large the Togolese people had the opportunity to express their opinion." Reconciliation The opposition rejected the results, despite reconciliatory overtures by Mr. Faure. "We call on the people to resist," said UFC secretary-general Jean-Pierre Fabre. Mr. Faure, however, urged veteran UFC leader Gilchrist Olympio to join the government. Earlier, Mr. Olympio said his party would not serve as a minority partner in any unity government. Mr. Olympio was ineligible to stand in the poll because he lives in exile following a 1992 assassination attempt. Regional powerhouse Nigeria had said that Mr. Olympio and Mr Faure had agreed to share power in a bid to calm tensions. During the campaign, Mr. Faure, 39 was portrayed as the candidate for a new Togo even though his father had run the country for 38 years -
Faure Gnassingbe:1.4m votes (60/%),Emmanuel Bob-Akitani:841,000(38%),turnout:64% ,source :electoral commission (provisional results)
President Eyadema, who died in February after ruling
Togo for 38 years, had seized power in a coup from Mr Olympio's father,
Sylvanus, in 1963.
USA The Prince of Citizenship Africa have fou8nd themselves fighting in Iraq joining the US military to get Citizenship, writes Lesile Goffe Nigerian-born Francis Chinomso Obaji paid a very high price for his adopted country, the USA. On January 17 this year, Obaji, a 21-year old Private 1st class, was killed when the around vehicle he was traveling in was fire-bombed by insurgents in Baghdad. A member of the Army National Guard 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment, he was the third African to be killed. The other two-also Nigerians – are 28-year-old Justin Bialiolisa Onwardi, who died in August last year, and 34-year-old Segun Frederick Akintade, who died in October. There are around one and a half million active duty servicemen in the US military, according to the US Department of Defence. Around 35,000 of them are foreign-born soldiers who are not citizens. Most of come form Mexico and other Central and Latin American countries. In contrast, there are relatively few African-born soldiers in the US military. This is mainly because Africans are among the most recent immigrants to settle in the US in large numbers. Africans fighting in Iraq include those forms Liberia, Ghana and Sierra Leone. Obaji signed up, in part, because President George Bush – desperate to increase numbers in the armed forces after the September 2001 World Trade Centre attacks – made an offer he and others could not refuse: an accelerated path to US citizenship. Bush issued an executive order allowing servicemen to apply immediately to become citizens. The military also offers those who sign up medical insurance and free college tuition. “He wanted to be a doctor. Now he is an American hero,” says his uncle, Kingsely Obaji. The approximately 55,000 US reserves and National Guard are part time soldiers who do not expect to see action. In the past they were confined to guarding bridges, tunnels and other structures of strategic importance. Though he was buried with full military honours at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington Dc, Francis Obaji’s uncle, Alphonsus Obaji, says his nephew did not support the war. “He though it was unnecessary.” Obaji received citizenship posthumously as his application had not been processed fast enough, even though he had jumped the queue. US Congressmen have introduced a bill that will allow the spouses and children of soldiers granted posthumous citizenship to receive citizenship. Currently, the family of dead soldiers is not entitled to any immigration benefits. Immigrants have been dying for the US for hundreds of years. Frenchmen, Scotsmen and Irishmen were among those who fought in the US’s war of independence in the 1700’s. During the Civil War in the 1860’s, half a million immigrants fought on the side of the North. Many Germans volunteered to fight for the Union and to end slavery, and Abraham Lincoln said of them: “The Germans are true and patriotic.” Immigrants also distinguished themselves in World War II and almost a quarter of the recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honour in US wars are form foreign shores. None of the recipients have so far been from Africa. But, with a growing population, it can only be a matter of time before Africans win military honours too. Sidique Wai, the Sierra Leonean-born president of the United African Congress, the leading African advocacy group in the US, says if his countrymen believe joining the military is the easiest joining the military is the easiest way to getting citizenship and to show their love for their adopted country, he supports them. “There are risks that people have to take, not because they are convenient, but because they are necessary,” Wai Says. |
