The Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) said it is pulling out of upcoming Ethiopia’s general election due to pressure the government imposed on ethnic Oromo based political parties.
“There will not be any election following the pressure the government has imposed to throw ethnic Oromo based political parties out of the national election,” OFC Chairman Professor Merera Gudina told local media.
Ethiopia is set to hold the 6th general election on June 5, 2021. It was supposed to take place last year but was postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic.
The government has jailed OFC’s leaders including Jawar Mohammed and Bekele Gerba for alleged instigation of violence in which hundreds of ethnic Amhara people were killed following assassination of Oromo singer Hachalu Hundessa in June last year.
“There will not be any election until our demands are met. We will not take part in the upcoming elections until our political prisoners are released and our offices are opened, Merera said.
The horn African nation has been holding parliamentary elections regularly since the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) took power in 1991 but, with one exception, all political parties were not strong competitors.
The withdrowal of the disgraced the one time popular Professor and his genocidal political Organisation is a great relief for Ethiopians and Ethiopianism !!!!!!!!!!!