Addis Ababa — The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) has issued a statement warning of violations of citizens’ constitutional rights to freedom of association and to form political parties, following the obstruction of planned founding congresses of two political parties in the Central Ethiopia Region.
According to the Board, Article 31 of the Ethiopian Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to form associations for any lawful purpose, while Proclamation No. 1162/2011 affirms the right of Ethiopians to establish or join political parties. Under Proclamation No. 1133, NEBE is mandated to register, monitor and regulate political parties that fulfill legal requirements.
In its statement, NEBE said the founders of the Kontoma Peoples Democratic Party had completed all required legal documentation and formally notified the Board of their intention to hold a founding general assembly on 30 October 2018 E.C. in Butajira town, Central Ethiopia Region. Following this notification, NEBE officially requested regional authorities, police bodies and local administrations to provide security support for the event and deployed its own observers to monitor the process.
However, the Board reported that armed security forces in Butajira blocked the assembly on the day of the event, citing the presence of a command post in the town. Founding members were reportedly removed from the venue and detained, without prior written notification to the Board that the meeting could not take place.
In a similar incident, the founders of the Denta People’s Democratic Party notified NEBE of their plan to hold a founding congress on 12 December 2018 E.C. in Bitana Tadagi town, Hadiya Zone. NEBE said it again informed relevant regional and zonal authorities to facilitate security arrangements and assigned observers to attend the meeting.
The Board stated that just as the assembly was about to begin, local security officials halted the gathering, refused to provide security support, warned of potential danger, and instructed both party founders and NEBE observers to leave the town.
NEBE emphasized that under Article 27(1) of Proclamation No. 1133, all federal and regional government institutions are legally obliged to cooperate with the Board and implement its lawful requests. The Board noted that despite efforts by its officials to resolve the issues through engagement with regional leaders at various levels, the problems remained unresolved.
The Board further stated that regional government bodies not only blocked the assemblies on the scheduled dates but also failed to provide any prior written explanation indicating that the meetings could not be held, despite earlier requests from NEBE.
Describing the actions as unconstitutional and harmful to the political space, NEBE warned that obstructing citizens’ rights to organize and form political parties undermines democratic principles. The Board called on regional government institutions at all levels to immediately halt such practices and to take appropriate corrective measures against actions that violate constitutional rights.
