ADDIS ABABA (ENA) – The African Union Commission (AUC) announced that it has approved the government of Ethiopia’s invitation to deploy election observers for the 2021 general elections in the country (Ethiopian election 2021).
AUC Chairperson, Mr. Moussa F. Mahamat, approved the deployment of both long- and short-term African Union observers to the general elections in Ethiopia scheduled for 21 June 2021.
The eight (8) members of the Long-Term Observation (LTO) mission, drawn from various member states of the African Union, arrived in Addis Ababa on 2nd and 3rd June 2021.
The mission is in Ethiopia to undertake observation and analysis of key aspects of the electoral process, particularly the political environment, electoral legal framework, the effectiveness and transparency of electoral preparation and administration, according to a statement from the AU.
The mission will also conduct observation on the election campaign environment, including freedom of the media and respect for core participatory rights throughout the process, it added.
This analysis will form a key part of the AU’s overall assessment of the conduct of the 21 June 2021 elections in Ethiopia, the Commission said. This analysis will form a key part of the AU’s overall assessment of the conduct of the 21 June 2021 elections in Ethiopia.
According to AUC’s statement, the long-term observation mission will be deployed in teams to cover different locations in the country.
They will be joined, at a later stage, by a number of Short-Term Observers (STOs), who will arrive in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, approximately a week before Election Day.
The AUC Election Observation Mission to Ethiopia has the mandate to observe, collect and analyze information concerning the election process and will operate in accordance with relevant AUC instruments.
The AUC instruments include the 2007 African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, the 2002 AUC/OAU Declaration on Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa, 2002 the AU Guidelines for Elections Observation and Monitoring Missions, and other regional and international instruments for democratic elections.
According to AUC, the Mission will present its findings at a press conference in Addis Ababa shortly after the conclusion of the elections, where a Preliminary Statement will be released. This will be followed by a more detailed final report that will include recommendations for improvement of future elections in Ethiopia, it added.
About the Ethiopian election 2021
Ethiopia had originally scheduled to hold the general elections on 29th August 2020 but it was delayed to because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2020, the sitting House of Representatives voted to postpone the election until 2021. In late December 2020, the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) stated that the national and regional elections it would take place on 5 June 2021. On 20th May 2021, NEBE announced that the twice-delayed general elections will take place on 21st June 2021 but, due to the ongoing conflicts in different parts of the country, especially in Tigray region, certain security and logistic problems will delay the Ethiopian election 2021 further in some areas.
Source: ENA