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Politics of Ethiopia takes place in a framework of a Federal Parliamentary Republic , whereby the Prime Minister is the Head Of Government . Executive Power is exercised by the government. Federal Legislative Power is vested in both the Government and the two chambers of parliament. The Judiciary is more or less independent of the executive and the legislature. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS In May 1991, a coalition of rebel forces under the name Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) defeated the government of Mengistu regime. In July 1991, the EPRDF, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), and others established the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) which was comprised of an 87-member Council of Representatives and guided by a national charter that functioned as a transitional constitution. In June 1992 the OLF withdrew from the government; in March 1993, members of the Southern Ethiopia Peoples' Democratic Coalition left the government. The Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), an ally in the fight against the Mengistu regime, assumed control of Eritrea and established a provisional government. Eritrea achieved full independence on May 24 , 1993 . President Meles Zenawi and members of the TGE pledged to oversee the formation of a multi-party democracy. The election of Ethiopia's 547-member constituent assembly was held in June 1994. This assembly adopted the constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in December 1994. The elections for Ethiopia's first popularly-chosen national parliament and regional legislatures were held in May and June 1995. Most opposition parties chose to boycott these elections. There was a landslide victory for the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). International and non-governmental observers concluded that opposition parties would have been able to participate had they chosen to do so. The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia was installed in August 1995. The first President was Negasso Gidada . The EPRDF-led government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has promoted a policy of ethnic federalism, devolving significant powers to regional, ethnically-based authorities. Ethiopia today has 9 semi-autonomous administrative regions that have the power to raise and spend their own revenues. Under the present government, Ethiopians enjoy greater political participation and freer debate than ever before in their history, although some fundamental freedoms, including Freedom Of The Press , are, in practice, somewhat circumscribed. Zenawi's government was re-elected in 2000 in Ethiopia's first multi-party elections. The incumbent President is Girma Wolde-Giorgis . Since 1991, Ethiopia has established warm relations with the United States and western Europe and has sought substantial economic aid from Western countries and World Bank . In 2004, the government began a drive to move more than two million people away from the arid highlands of the east, proposing that these resettlements would reduce food shortages.1 Ethiopia held another , "these elections stand out as a milestone in creating a new, more competitive multi-party political system in one of Africa's largest and most important countries." Even the EU preliminary statement of 2005 also said "...the polling processes were generally positive. The overall assessment of the process has been rated as good in 64% of the cases, and very good in 24%". On 2005 Ethiopian elections The opposition complained that the ruling EPRDF engaged in widespread vote rigging and intimidation, alleging fraud in 299 constituencies. All allegations were investigated by the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia in cooperation with election monitors, a process which delayed the release of the final results. In June 2005, with the results of the election still unclear, a group of university students protested these alleged discrepancies, encouraged by supporters of the Coalition for Unity opposition party, despite a ban on protests imposed by the government. On June 8 , 26 people were killed in Addis Ababa as a result of rioting, which led to the arrest of hundreds of protesters. On September 5 , 2005 , the National Elections Board of Ethiopia released the final election results, which confirmed that the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front retained its control of the government, but showed that opposition parties had increased their share of parliamentary seats, from 12 to 176. The Coalition for Unity and Democracy won all the seats in Addis Ababa, both for the Parliament and the City Council. Street protests broke out again, when the opposition called for a general strike and boycotted the new Parliament, refusing to accept the results of the election. The police forces once again attempted to contain the protests and this time 42 people were killed in Addis Ababa, including seven policemen, and another of whom later died because of fatal injuries caused by a hand grenade detonation. Thousands were arrested, and were taken to various detention centers across the country. By February 2006, six hundred remained in custody, facing trial in March. On 14 November , the Ethiopian Parliament passed a resolution to establish a neutral commission to investigate the incidents of June 8 and November 1 and 2. In February 2006, UK Prime Minister Blair, acknowledging that the EPRDF has won the election, said he wanted to see Ethiopia resolve its internal problems and continue on a democratic path.2 CURRENT POLITICS Since 1991, Ethiopia has established warm relations with the United States and western Europe and has sought substantial economic aid from Western countries and the World Bank . In 2004, the government began a drive to move more than two million people away from the arid highlands of the east, proposing that these resettlements would reduce food shortages. Ethiopia held another General Election In May 2005 , which drew a record number of voters, with 90% of the electorate turning out to cast their vote. While the European Union election observer team of Ana Maria Gomes deemed the elections to have fallen short of international standards for fair and free elections, other teams drew totally different conclusions. The African Union report on September 14 commended "the Ethiopian people's display of genuine commitment to democratic ideals", and on September 15 the US Carter Center concluded that "the majority of the constituency results based on the May 15 polling and tabulation are credible and reflect competitive conditions". However, it was noted that foreign election observers (including Gomes) were not given the authority and/or documentations in order to travel and monitor rural areas of the country. Even worse, these delays occurred a couple of days before the election day and some have indicated the governments role in these delays, but couldn't provide substantial proof for their accusations. Still, the US Department of State said on September 16, "these elections stand out as a milestone in creating a new, more competitive multi-party political system in one of Africa's largest and most important countries." Even the EU preliminary statement of 2005 said that "...the polling processes were generally positive. The overall assessment of the process has been rated as good in 64% of the cases, and very good in 24%." The opposition complained that the ruling EPRDF engaged in widespread vote rigging and intimidation, alleging fraud in 299 constituencies. The ruling party complained that the main opposition party CUD's AEUP sub party had engaged in intimidation. All allegations were investigated by the National Electoral Board Of Ethiopia in cooperation with election monitors, a process which delayed the release of the final results. In June 2005, with the results of the election still unclear, a group of opposition supporters protested these alleged discrepancies despite a one month ban on protests imposed by the government. The government said that if there are no protests for one month, it would ease the high political tension in Ethiopia. Street protests broke out again later in the year when the CUD opposition called for a general strike and boycotted the new Parliament, refusing to accept the results of the election. The police forces once again attempted to contain the protests and this time forty-two people were killed in Addis Ababa, including seven policemen, and another of whom later died because of fatal injuries caused by a hand grenade detonation. Thousands were arrested, and were taken to various detention centers across the country. On 14 November, the Ethiopian Parliament passed a resolution to establish a neutral commission to investigate the incidents of June 8 and November 1 and 2. On September 5 , 2005 , the National Elections Board of Ethiopia released the final election results in which confirmed that the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front retained its control of the government, but showed that opposition parties had increased their share of parliamentary seats, from 12 to 176. The Coalition for Unity and Democracy won all but one of the seats in Addis Ababa, both for the Parliament and the City Council. Now half of CUD, including Medhin have joined the parliament. In February 2006, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair , acknowledging that the EPRDF had won the election, said he wanted to see Ethiopia resolve its internal problems and continue on a democratic path. By February 2006, hundreds remained in custody, facing trial in March. About 119 people are currently facing trial, including journalists for defamation and opposition party leaders for treason. Human rights organisations have raised concerns over the well-being of some of these prisoners. However 8,000 prisoners have already been freed.3 Concerns about the implications of these trials for the freedom of the press have also been raised. Ethiopian police massacre See Also: Ethiopian police massacre On October 18 2006 an independent report said Ethiopian police massacred 193 protesters, mostly in the capital Addis Ababa , in the violence of June and November following the May 2005 elections. The information was leaked before the official independent report was handed to the parliament. The leak made by Ethiopian judge Wolde-Michael Meshesha found that the government had concealed the true extent of deaths at the hands of the police. This leak also brought more accusations that the opposition party which provoked the riots was trying to damage the reputation of the government by leaking the inquiry unlawfully. Gemechu Megerssa, a member of the independent Inquiry commission, which Mr. Meshesha once worked with, said Mr. Meshesha taking the report "out of context and presenting it to the public to sensationalise the situation for his political end is highly unethical."[http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L07807962&WTmodLoc=World-R5-Alertnet-2 Post-election violence inquiry commission The incident is just one of many examples of human rights violations in Ethiopia in recent times. Related to the violence, some of the top leaders of the opposition CUD party were arrested on charges of inciting the violence and "outrage against the constitution." Despite pressure to release the CUD leaders who were rounded up after the post election violence, the Ethiopian court convicted 38 of the top CUD leaders.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6740929.stm Ethiopian CUD leaders convicted by the court However after various negotiations to solve the deadlock via a political agreement, the convicted CUD leaders signed a document accepting their "mistakes" and an accountability ranging from partial to full responsibility for the post election violence. 38 Ethiopian opponents claim responsibility for post-poll violence [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/20/AR2007062002416.html Ethiopian Prisoners sign Paper to accept partial guilt] EXECUTIVE BRANCH
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