ADDIS ABABA - Ethiopia's prime minister
met members of 81 opposition parties on Tuesday to discuss ways
of reforming the electoral system, his office said, as he
pressed on with promises to open up a political arena dominated
by his coalition.
Abiy Ahmed has turned national politics on its head since
coming to power in April by welcoming back exiled opposition and
separatist groups, releasing prisoners and appointing a formerly
jailed dissident as head of the election board.
The meeting focused "on highlighting the reforms required to
ensure the upcoming election is free & fair, and the shared
responsibilities of all," his office said on Twitter. There was
no immediate comment from opposition groups.
Abiy's EPRDF coalition has been in power in Ethiopia - a
major Western ally in an unstable region - since 1991. The
grouping and affiliated parties hold all seats in parliament.
Last week he appointed Birtukan Mideksa as head of the board
preparing for the next national elections, scheduled for 2020.
Birtukan was one of dozens of opposition figures arrested
in the violent aftermath of a 2005 vote - when an opposition
coalition stood against the government across the country, then
challenged the EPRDF's victory.
Security forces opened fire on crowds who took to the
streets accusing the government and the election board of
rigging the 2005 vote. Dozens of people died.
Abiy - the first member of Ethiopia's majority Oromo group
to lead a coalition long dominated by ethnic Tigrayans - has
promised to rein in the powerful security services and started
consultations to rework an anti-terrorism law that critics said
had criminalised dissent.
Also on Tuesday, parliament approved new members to the
census commission, signalling that the country is getting ready
to conduct its first census in 10 years, the state-run Ethiopian
News Agency said.
Ethiopia has more than 80 ethnicities and has designed its
political system around regional ethnic groups, making the
results of the census potentially contentious.