ADDIS ABABA: September 4 (EI) – The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) on Wednesday announced that about 50 million voters are expected to take part in the upcoming national election, slated for next year.
NEBE Chairperson, Birtukan Mideksa, also told reporters on Wednesday that the board is preparing detailed operational plans to help conduct fair, free and democratic election.
Birtukan, noting that the Board is undertaking all the necessary preparations so as to maintain quality data to determine the number of observers, also stressed that NEBE “will resist any form of influence if it ever comes in the future.”
In recent weeks, opposition political parties have been voicing their concern over the recently ratified election and political parties proclamation.
The newly endorsed proclamation, among other things, states a regional political party to get support of 4,000 people, while national political parties to get signatures of at least 10,000 people for the parties to be registered as a political party.
Despite reports that the country would postpone the upcoming 2020 national elections, the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been frequently stressed his government’s commitment to abiding by the slated timeline.