[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 16]
[House]
[Pages 21588-21589]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       CALL FOR PEACE IN ETHIOPIA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Sodrel). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss democracy and 
elections in Ethiopia. As this country has been a close ally of the 
United States in the war on terror, it is critical that we encourage 
their evolution from monarchy to communism to democracy.
  I used to live in Ethiopia as a child, and I lived there when Haile 
Selassie was the emperor. And even under a monarchy, Ethiopia had a lot 
of good things going for it. And as they have always been an ally of 
ours, strangely, we often forget them.
  Ethiopia is divided into nine states along linguistic and ethnic 
lines. It is a 3,000-year-old civilization which until the 1970s was 
under a monarchy, and then a brutal Marxist junta through him over. 
Civil war and famines racked the country in the 1980s. Calm finally 
began to return in 1991 when Meles Zenawi, who assisted in the 
overthrow of the junta, became president and finally prime minister 4 
years later.
  Since that time, Ethiopia has participated in a total of three 
elections. That is three elections in a 3,000-year history.
  This past spring, Ethiopia held their second election since the 
introduction of multiparty politics and the first under international 
scrutiny. Thirty-five political parties vied for seats in the 547 seat 
lower house of parliament called the Council of People's 
Representatives. Voters also chose representatives in nine regional 
state parliaments that will appoint members of parliament's upper 
house, the Council of the Federation.
  Twenty-five million people registered to vote in the election. With 
200,000 of those registered to vote living in villages inaccessible by 
roads, election officials on camels, pack animals, and boats fanned out 
to distribute ballots in time for the election. The National Electoral 
Board drafted 38 camels, 65 donkeys, 20 horses and 10 mules to carry 
election workers, ballots, stamps, counting sheets, and indelible ink 
to rural parts of a country twice the size of Texas.
  In the weeks leading up to the May elections, peaceful mass rallies 
were held by both the ruling party and opposition parties in Ethiopia's 
capital of Addis Ababa. At one of the rallies, 250,000 supporters of 
one of the main opposition parties, the Coalition for Unity and 
Democracy, rallied in the capital's main Meskel Square. A government 
rally attracted 600,000 people the day before.
  One voter, Solomon Aseffa, told reporters that after witnessing two 
public rallies in two days, democracy finally really was flourishing in 
Ethiopia. Another resident said that the peaceful rallies were 
indicative of the increasing political consciousness of the community. 
An Addis Ababa resident, Fitsum Argaw, urged young people to cast their 
votes in order to safeguard a democratic system that had been achieved 
through great sacrifice.
  During the campaign, there was unprecedented media access for the 
opposition. They received equal time on state-run radio and the 
opportunity to participate in broadcast debates. One main opposition 
party even launched a text messaging campaign to get out the vote. 
European observers praised the openness to the run-up to the elections 
although they admitted that they witnessed intimidating tactics by the 
ruling party.
  Despite the reports of harassment, there was a stunning 90 percent 
turnout of registered voters. Foreign election observers found out the 
worst problem had been the crowds, with some waiting for hours just to 
cast their ballots. A young female economics consultant called it ``a 
great day because I am able to vote freely and that is a new thing here 
in Ethiopia.''
  The election results showed that while the ruling party held on to a 
majority, the opposition made major gains. However, opposition parties 
argued that the process was marred by fraud, intimidation, and 
violence. After the electric, Prime Minister Zenawi promptly banned all 
demonstrations for 1 month and assumed control of the capital police.
  Sadly, events spiraled out of control after the university students 
were arrested for defying this ban. Ultimately, 36 people were shot 
dead by police and thousands were arrested after protests erupted over 
the election results. This type of bloodshed cannot be allowed to 
happen again.
  This Sunday there is a rally scheduled to take place in Addis Ababa. 
Members of the main opposition parties, the Coalition for Unity and 
Democracy and the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces, plan to protest 
alleged fraud in the May 15 parliamentary elections and call for the 
formation of a national unity government to supervise new elections.
  What we want the folks in Ethiopia to know is that we are behind them 
in the democratic process. We know it is not perfect, as we are still 
working on ours; but we wish them success in this great and noble 
endeavor.
  I would like to take this time to urge peace and calm in Ethiopia. 
There has already been too much violence and bloodshed in the wake of 
these elections. However, in an ominous sign, on Monday forty-three 
members of the opposition were arrested ahead of Sunday's assembly and 
the branch offices of the opposition parties were raided and are now 
closed. Authorities have threatened ``severe consequences'' for any 
illegal acts or violence that occur during Sunday's event.
  Mr. Speaker, the path to democracy is never a smooth and easy 
process. We are seeing that now in Iraq. In Ethiopia, democracy is in 
its infancy and it must be nurtured along by its leaders.
  To that end, I would urge Prime Minister Zenawi and the Ethiopian 
authorities to allow this rally to occur peacefully. As pre-election

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rallies were held without violence and bloodshed, post-election rallies 
should be equally violence and bloodshed-free.
  Ethiopia has come so far. From a monarchy followed by suffering under 
Communism, Ethiopians must be given the opportunity to flourish under 
the greatest of systems--democracy.

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