Ethiopians were voting on Sunday at thousands of polling stations, opened for the first time in the general elections since the death of prime minister Meles Zeanawi, across the country to elect regional and federal legislatures.
At three polling stations the IANS correspondent visited in the capital city of Addis Ababa, voters were seen queuing calmly since 6 a.m. with police and security personnel present outside polling stations.
According to the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE), more than 36.8 million voters were registered.
For weeks ahead of the polling day, the Electoral Board and contending political parties were constantly urging the registered voters to turn out on polling day.
There are 45,795 polling stations throughout the country to handle the daylong voting process, monitored by over 45,000 local, 59 African Union observers and representatives of the parties.
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Western observers were not invited and the opposition alleges the government has used authoritarian tactics to ensure a poll victory. The European Union and the US-based Carter Center, which monitored the 2005 and 2010 elections, were not invited back this time as well.
"Things are going orderly and peacefully with no unusual incidents so far," Addisu Akele, NEBE assigned coordinator of a polling station in the relatively affluent Bole neighbourhood of Addis Ababa, told IANS.
"They are voting peacefully without anyone pushing them to do so. I am also cross-checking the numbers that came here to vote. Women are voting in high numbers so far."
There were also other observers from opposition parties along with Addisu in one of the 145 polling stations around Bole area.
Kidist Girma, 24, opposition Blue Party observer, said since morning everything was going smoothly and hopefully there would not be a fraud here or other polling stations in the country.
"We were given orientations from our party regarding the election process and we are following it through that way. Though we are worried that there will be election fraud, hopefully this time it is going to be fair," she told IANS.
In the not-so-affluent Cherkos neighbourhood, however, polling station coordinators were arranging ballot boxes as voters were sorted through the registration process while some wait queuing on sidewalk.
The ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) is widely speculated to win a landslide.
The opposition parties alleged the entire poll landscape was so much tilted in favour of the ruling party that they would question the independence of the Electoral Board.
Polling will continue for 12 hours before vote count starts after 6 p.m. but the opposition alleged the situation outside the capital was chaotic and would remain so through polling day.
They said government agents have harassed and intimidated their members which will reflect on the number of votes they will get.
The EPRDF is also accused of using government resources and structures, including the 5-to-1 network of people down to the household levels to solicit votes.
Government denies such accusations, saying its possible victory could only be attributed to its achievements in setting the country on development course lifting many out of poverty.
Out of 79 recognised political parties in the country, down from 92 in 2010, 58 have fielded a combined 1,828 candidates for the 547 seats in the House of Peoples' Representative (HPR), a supreme federal legislative body which determines who rules the country.
Over 4,000 candidates of these parties are running for regional councils.
The EPRDF has fielded the largest number of candidates in all 547 constituencies.
The two major opposition parties, Medrek (Forum) of veteran politicians and Semayawi (Blue) Party of young politicians ,in their first election experience since establishment in 2012 have fielded second and third largest candidates, according to the Electoral Board.
The EPRDF won the 2010 elections in a landslide. Those polls were peaceful, in contrast with 2005, when opposition accusations of irregularities sparked violence that left 200 people dead.
The opposition won 172 seats in that vote, but only one in 2010.
This time, that solitary incumbent opposition MP has chosen not to run again.
Meanwhile, polls in the constituency of the single independent legislator seeking re-election were postponed on Friday, after he complained there had not been "enough time and space" for campaigning.
However, some also believe, the real election will be in September when the ruling party congress elects the chairperson who, by de facto, will be the prime minister of Ethiopia.
(Hadra Ahmed can be contacted at hadraahmed@gmail.com)
