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Vol 46 No 23

Published 18th November 2005


Ethiopia

Transition starts here

Disputed elections, the shooting of oppositionists and donor worries hasten political change

The ruling party is on the defensive. Its brutal response to opposition protests at election irregularities and the criticism which that has aroused, may mark its transformation. At May's elections, the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) lost support markedly throughout the country and totally in the capital. Since then, some 76 civilians have died in disturbances, the last 40 of them on 1-2 November. The death-toll makes it seem that Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government cannot regain its lost legitimacy, either with Ethiopians or with Western governments.

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