The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) today stated that it has drafted a schedule that will extend this year’s May general election to August.
Some 50 million Ethiopians will be expected to cast their vote on August 2, according to the new schedule. Ethiopia has been conducting general election every five year in the month of May. Because of the reform the country and the NEBE has been going through the election is extended by about two months.
This is indicated today at the discussion the NEBE officials held with political party representative in the capital, Addis Ababa. The new schedule shows that voters’ registration will take place for about a month until the first week of March. And for about a month starting the end of March registration of voters will take place.
In the first week of March NEBE plans to reveal polling stations. The final election schedule will be released within three weeks, according to NEBE. “…planning to hold the election in August is meant to favor the ruling party that controls state’s transportation resources and hinder poorly resourced opposition from accessing rural areas,” said Jawar Mohammed, a prominent former Oromo activist who now is now a member of Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) on his piece on Facebook.