The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) have accused the government of Ethiopia of applying intimidating tactics to discourage them from participating in the upcoming Ethiopian election.
In an interview with Ethio-FM, leaders of the political parties said they will not take part in June’s general election if the government does not stop the intimidation and throw their members into jail.
The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia Saturday announced that it has extended political parties’ candidates registration timeline by four days due to failure of competing political parties including OLF and OFC to get their candidates registered in time.
“The extension will not make any difference as long as our members are in custody and our offices were closed by force, OFC Chair Professor Mererra Gudina has said.
Our offices are closed. The rights of our members to move freely are gravely restricted, OLF chair Dawud Ibsa was quoted as saying
Last week, both parties said they were pulling out of the upcoming Ethiopia’s general election due to pressure the government imposed on ethnic Oromo based political parties.
