OP-ED Editorial

Rights Delayed, Democracy Denied

Posted on: 2025-12-24 11:47:17 | Last updated: 2026-01-15 06:26:38

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At a time when Ethiopia urgently needs broader political inclusion and trust-building, the events described by the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) expose a deeply troubling reality: constitutional rights are increasingly treated as optional at the local level.

NEBE’s latest statement, detailing the obstruction of the founding congresses of two legally compliant political parties in the Central Ethiopia Region, is not merely an administrative complaint. It is a warning siren for the country’s fragile democratic order.

The Constitution is unambiguous. Article 31 guarantees citizens the right to associate freely, while electoral proclamations clearly affirm the right to form and join political parties. These are not privileges to be granted or withdrawn by local security officials; they are foundational rights that define Ethiopia as a constitutional state rather than a security-ruled one.

Yet, according to the Board’s own observers, armed security forces in Butajira and Bitana Tadagi towns acted unilaterally, blocking assemblies, detaining party founders, denying security support, and expelling even NEBE’s representatives. These actions were taken without prior written notice, without legal justification, and in direct defiance of the federal body constitutionally mandated to oversee political parties.

This pattern reveals a dangerous normalization of rule by command post rather than rule of law. Invoking vague security concerns, while offering no formal assessment or alternative arrangements, has become a convenient tool to suppress lawful political activity. When “security” is used as a blanket excuse to silence peaceful political organization, democracy itself becomes the casualty.

Equally alarming is the institutional breakdown this episode exposes. Proclamation No. 1133 explicitly obliges all federal and regional authorities to cooperate with NEBE. When regional officials ignore this obligation, despite repeated engagement attempts, it signals not only disregard for the Board, but erosion of constitutional governance itself.

If political parties cannot even convene founding assemblies after fulfilling all legal requirements, one must ask: what space remains for pluralism, competition, and peaceful dissent?

Keyir Vox Africa believes that democracy cannot survive where local power centers operate above the Constitution. Ethiopia’s political future depends not on the rhetoric of reform, but on the consistent protection of rights in practice, especially for smaller, emerging political movements that lack power but embody political diversity.

NEBE has done its duty by documenting and publicly condemning these violations. The responsibility now lies with federal authorities to act decisively: to hold obstructing officials accountable, to reaffirm the supremacy of the Constitution, and to ensure that security institutions serve democracy rather than smother it.

Without such action, statements and proclamations will remain ink on paper, while the political space continues to shrink in silence.