Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed speaks at in Washington on July 28. It used the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation to silence journalists, political opposition members and dissident bloggers. Distributing largesse to party members — while punishing dissentersAfter the troubled 2005 elections, the government delayed the country’s regional and local elections for two years. That means that local EPRDF officials could reward supporters and punish opponents — either by offering or refusing goods, or implicitly threatening police monitoring and harassment. If the EPRDF wants competitive democratic elections, it would have to dismantle this government-backed system of patronage and punishment.

Source: Ethiopian News September 07, 2018 11:46 UTC