My friend came from out of town for a visit. I took him around to all the tourist places, including our local Museum of Modern Art. Lucky for us there was a Picasso exhibit the critics were raving about. It was a delight to view Picasso’s work in living color. Read more »

EU_preliminary_report.pdf

ETHIOPIAN AMERICAN CIVIC ADVOCACY

Fighting for Democratic values, Human Rights, and Donor Accountability Read more »

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) – An Ethiopian opposition leader called Wednesday for a rerun of the weekend election, charging that the vote was flawed by intimidation and irregularities, as America and the European Union expressed concern over its fairness.

Prospective parliamentarian Hailu Shawel said he believes Sunday’s vote was controlled by the ruling party and has written a letter to the electoral board asking for a rerun. Read more »

AFP | May 25, 2010

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Ethiopia’s weekend elections, which gave long-time ruler Meles Zenawi a landslide victory, were “not up to international standards,” a senior US diplomat said Tuesday. Read more »

he Associated Press./ By ANITA POWELL
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Tens of thousands of ruling party supporters rallied Tuesday in Ethiopia’s capital to celebrate victory in the national election, while the chief EU observer said the poll had been marred by an uneven playing field.
A top opposition leader denounced the provisional results released by the Ethiopian elections board, but did not indicate what action his party would take. Read more »

May 24, 2010.  We will live blog the election here.  We have fielded thousands of election observers and reporters throughout Ethiopia to monitor and report on the election process.  We will continuously update this page. Read more »

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May 23, 2010 /By Alemayehu G. Mariam

There is an old morality tale of The Emperor’s New Clothes about a king who is so self-absorbed, vainglorious and obsessed with his appearance that he hired two suit makers and gave them vast amounts of money to sew him the finest silk robes. They agreed to make the robes but warned the king that the types of robes they make are invisible to anyone who is unfit for their official position or hopelessly stupid. Read more »

Heavily stifled and divided opposition regroup to challenge the ruling EPRDF

VOA News / 18 May 2010 / Henok Semaegzer Fente | Washington, DC

Campaigning opposition candidates (Left to Right) Negaso Gidada, Gizachew Shiferaw, Gebru Asrat and Siye Abraha

Siye Abraha is not a new name in Ethiopian politics. But the former rebel commander and former minister of defense is new to opposition forces. Read more »

NEW YORK TIMES  /  JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

NAIROBI, Kenya — Diplomats, human rights groups and witnesses say the Ethiopian government is methodically stifling dissent in the prelude to this weekend’s national elections, denying food aid to opposition supporters, jailing political opponents and possibly killing a few activists, part of a broader pattern of repression in several of America’s closest allies in Africa, especially during election time. Read more »