Election Board’s Unilateral Preparations In Lead Up To 2026 Vote Incense Opposition Parties

“We cannot move outside of Addis Ababa.”

A fallout between opposition political parties and officials at the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) is intensifying ahead of the seventh national elections, with opposition figures arguing the country is not fit to head to the polls while the Board finalizes preparations to launch the electoral process.

The Board recently put out a call for political parties to register their candidates for the vote, giving them just a few weeks to finalize the list. More recently, the Board sent out a letter calling parties to attend a meeting today (Saturday November 29, 2025) where its officials plan to roll out new directives and plans.

On the agenda are funding allocations for political parties, mechanisms for addressing complaints during the election process, and media coverage and airtime.

However, opposition figures argue the items on the agenda are far removed from reality.

“This election is not going to be an election. The country is not ready,” Merera Gudina, chair of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC). “During the EPRDF era, at least opposition parties were able to move across the country, list their candidates, organize observers, and mobilize campaigns. But today, none of these are possible. We cannot move outside of Addis Ababa. It is life-threatening for candidates or observers to go outside Addis Ababa. We used to mobilize tens of thousands of our members and supporters during past campaigns. Today, the situation does not allow the mobilization of even a hundred people. We cannot provide a guarantee for people’s safety. Both the government and NEBE know all these problems, but they are pushing ahead with the election schedule. This is a problem. This is a problem for all parties.”

The veteran opposition leader observes that most of the country is weighed down by conflict, unrest, and the breakdown of rule of law, which he argues need to be resolved before the public can go to the polls.

“You cannot go past Sululta or go to parts of Oromia due to insecurity and conflict. In the Amhara region too. I used to go to the Amhara region and areas like Dessie to mobilize election campaigns. Today, that is impossible. In Tigray, the main party [TPLF] has no legal license. In general, 70 percent of Ethiopia is not a conducive environment to conduct elections,” said Merera.

His party did not take part in the 2021 national election. The country’s electoral laws dictate that a party can have its license revoked if it fails to take part in two consecutive votes.

“As OFC, we will decide on Saturday. We skipped the last election. We’ve taken all that into consideration. We are requesting the government to create an enabling environment before proceeding to conduct the election. If the government’s position is ‘this is a conducive environment for me’, then the government can proceed with it,” said Merera.

Eyob Mesafint of Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice (EZEMA) also voice strong criticism.

“Ezema has a firm position that elections should not be undertaken for the sake of conducting elections. It should not be just about making it every five years. It should be a step more democratic and a better election than the previous vote, though making it a fully democratic election is difficult. We urge NEBE to consider the parties’ concerns seriously, and work on them first. NEBE should prepare to conduct a real election,” Eyob told The Reporter.

Eyob notes an election requires an enabling environment and called on the government to ensure that through negotiations with the armed groups it is currently engaged in conflict with in parts of the country.

“Only this way can it be a free, fair and democratic election. Conducting an election in absence of [an enabling environment] will be lip service. It won’t improve our democracy. The government has a mandate to ensure peace. The PM said the government will ensure peace. We expect this. NEBE might have its own methods and ways to evaluate and assess the peace and stability situation in the country, and define what an enabling environment is, but the Board is not willing to share its assessment with us. Running an election without explaining this is wrong,” said Eyob.

Opposition figures say the Board has communicated poorly with their offices.

“Unfortunately, NEBE is not willing to share this information with us ahead of time. It just sent us a letter calling us for a meeting. If it had sent the information, we could have read it, discussed it, and gone to the meeting. We requested this in writing several times but the Board is unwilling to give us any documents or explanations regarding the directives being introduced and measures being taken unilaterally,” said Eyob.

He says previous meetings called by the Board had a similar theme.

“Every time the Board calls us parties for a meeting, the meeting ends without sufficient explanation. Board officials call us for discussion. Then the Board makes decisions that were not discussed and agreed upon during the meeting. This has become the fashion,” Eyob told The Reporter.

He says Ezema will participate in the vote, scheduled to take place in mid-2026.

“Despite these ongoing detriments, we have no option but to participate in the election, if the government proceeds on its current track,” he said.

Rahel Bafe (PhD), chair of Ethiopian Social Democratic Party, and the Political Parties’ Joint Council, is also concerned with the approach.

“Last October, opposition parties conducted a number of meetings with NEBE on how to create a conducive environment for the election before proceeding to the election schedule and listing candidates. We told the NEBE what should be fulfilled ahead. During those meetings, opposition parties and the ruling Prosperity Party were all present. We stated that NEBE should first consult with stakeholders including CSOs, NGOs, political parties, and others. NEBE agreed on these terms at the time. But after the meeting, NEBE announced election schedules over the media and that parties should start listing their candidates. This was not what we discussed and the Board made the announcement via media before first consulting parties or the joint council,” said Rahel.

She argues that conditions are unsuitable for elections, but maintains that they can be made so through collaboration between the government, Board, opposition parties, and the public.

“All opposition parties are saying is, there is no enabling environment to conduct elections, so let us create it first,” said Rahel.

She noted that in an interview with The Ethiopian Reporter earlier this month, NEBE chair Melatework Hailu, stated there is an enabling environment for elections and denied the existence of any obstacles to the scheduled vote.

The statement has baffled political parties.

“We were shocked to hear this. Even the Prime Minister, during his recent address to Parliament, said there are conflicts in parts of the country. Parties are also clearly stating there are conflicts across the country. Parts of Ethiopia did not take part in the last election which was held five years ago and so don’t have representatives in Parliament to date. They include several parts of Oromia, Amhara, Tigray and others. The reason we are arguing the upcoming election must be inclusive of all Ethiopians is because we want not to repeat the same situation,” said Rahel.