
Agenda | Sep 10,2022
May 8 , 2021
By Christian Tesfaye
I registered to vote to see what it is like. It is a rather drab process. Some two youth employees of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia took my background information, asked where I intended to vote and wrote my name and details on a large ledger. In return, I was given a card that I am required to bring to the polling station. The whole affair may have taken five minutes.
I do also intend to go and vote on polling day. If nothing else, I would like to see what it is like, how the people feel, and how election officials treat voters. It will be my first time doing as such, although I had been eligible for one previous election, a time when nothing seemed to be at stake.
I also have no idea whom I will be voting for. There are not that many exciting options, nor am I under the illusion that my voice in such a country matters anywhere near as much as I would like it to. This is Africa. Worse still, this is the Horn. People do not matter, the political elite does, and they are not about to relinquish their power and influence for something as alien to the region as representative democracy.
Then, why vote?
Some people are genuinely excited about the possibility of putting in place leaders of their choice in parliament. For me, and I would assume many people, it is a bit of desperation.
What is left if people feel so disillusioned with their elites' handling of politics so as to reject the whole electoral process?
Voting allows many to feel they have the power to choose their representatives in power. It gives them hope, which is a rare currency these days. More importantly, though this election may not be considered fair, the jury is still out on how free it could be. The Electoral Board, under Birtukan Mideksa, despite the myriad of crises this country is going through, has maintained a semblance of independence. The courts also remain untested on how fairly they arbiter election-related disputes. Many may not feel like it, but the possibility of a more diverse set of MPs could still not be discarded.
I am also voting because of the possibility that the central government may continue to be weak in the absence of a strong voter turnout. It is unfortunate that a political transformation that started with much promise deteriorated to such depths of insanity. Even the most cynical amongst us could barely fathom what would eventually occur when most of the country was drunk with elation just three years back.
But the rapid deterioration of our circumstances should not obscure the fact that a government that lacks electoral legitimacy is the answer to the problem. However much we detest our current political conditions, the fact that it could get worse should not be forgotten. If we are to claw our way out of this darkness, it would be with the support of a central government able to ensure the safety and wellbeing of citizens through a monopoly of violence.
A low voter turnout would mean yet another constitutional crisis. In many a developed country, this is a significant hiccup but not one that threatens to drag the entire country into chaos. Ethiopia does not have the institutions. Neither does it have a political elite able to craft a course out of ideological and political challenges and confusions.
The lowest starting point is the avoidance of violence, and this could only happen through a central government with an electoral mandate. Voting, although many seem to believe that their political future is written for them, is the first step out of Ethiopia’s winter of despair.
PUBLISHED ON
May 08,2021 [ VOL
22 , NO
1097]
Agenda | Sep 10,2022
Commentaries | Mar 04,2023
Fortune News | Jun 05,2021
My Opinion | Jun 20,2020
Commentaries | Aug 08,2020
Agenda | Jul 22,2023
Sponsored Contents | Sep 26,2021
Covid-19 | Apr 01,2020
Agenda | Jun 18,2022
Agenda | Dec 19,2018
Photo Gallery | 83291 Views | May 06,2019
Photo Gallery | 75458 Views | Apr 26,2019
Fineline | 58853 Views | Oct 03,2020
Fortune News | 58587 Views | Jul 18,2020
Dec 24 , 2022
Biniam Mikru heads the department of cabinet affairs under Mayor Adanech Abiebie. But...
Jul 2 , 2022 . By RUTH TAYE
On a rainy afternoon last week, a coffee processing facility in the capital's Akaki-Qality District was abuzz with activ...
Nov 27 , 2021
Against my will, I have witnessed the most terrible defeat of reason and the most sa...
Nov 13 , 2021
Plans and reality do not always gel. They rarely do in a fast-moving world. Every act...
Dec 9 , 2023
Making a paradigm shift seems elusive for those in the driving seat of Ethiopia's mon...
Dec 2 , 2023
The symphony of traffic noise in Addis Abeba is not just a sign of life, but a siren...
Nov 25 , 2023
Ethiopia's quest to develop a functioning capital market is a demanding yet not unach...
Nov 18 , 2023
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) has made a fervent call for landlocked Ethiopia to ga...
Dec 9 , 2023 . By BERSABEH GEBRE
Amhara Bank finds itself embroiled in a detrimental controversy after its Board Chair...
Dec 9 , 2023 . By AKSAH ITALO
Moha Softdrink Industries S.C., Ethiopia's leading beverage bottler, is in a precarious situation after seeing its founding General Manager...
Dec 9 , 2023 . By BERSABEH GEBRE
The Addis Abeba City Administration officials have sanctioned plot allotments for various developers, com...
Dec 9 , 2023 . By MUNIR SHEMSU
Ethiopia's manufacturing sector remains in a tangled web of macroeconomic pressures, security challenges...