VOA– The 74-year-old veteran political leader said he is disgusted at the extent of the rigging, and vowed to quit politics. Hailu Shewal, leader of the All Ethiopia Unity Party said reports from his party’s field workers indicated a ‘disastrous situation’, with opposition observers forced to flee in many places, and ruling party cadres marching voters into the voting booths and watching to see how they voted.
“I am not participating in a ridiculous election. Never again,” he said. “Maybe people think I am committing suicide, but politics is not my life. I am not in the business of cheating.”
…Opposition parties allege widespread and systematic cheating, especially in remote areas where observation is difficult. Former Ethiopian president Negasso Gidada, now a leader of the main opposition coalition known as Medrek, says in thousands of precincts, his observers were denied access to the voting and counting process.
“We say the election took place without our observation, and that means if our observers have not participated, the voting day has been compromised,” he said.
The European Union and the African Union had about 240 observers spread across the country monitoring activities at 43,000 polling stations. After the polls closed, chief EU observer Thygs Berman called the election ‘peaceful and quiet’, but acknowledged there had been complaints of vote rigging.
“It is about of course the technical errors. But there are more,” Berman said. “There are complaints by political parties, there are complaints by candidates. We will see in the coming hours and days how we shall evaluate these complaints.”
Berman said he had heard no reports of election-related violence.
Opposition leaders said despite the possibility of a crushing defeat they would not call their supporters into the streets to protest.
May 23rd, 2010 at 11:17 pm
Hailu Shawel is TOO OLD to participate in any future elections anyway. his comment is funny!! hailu is opportunistic.
he was hoping TPLF will give him power and good treatment like lidetu kidetu. so hailu kissed the ass of meles zenawi. but zenawi betrayed hailu just like hailu betrayed ethiopia.
anyway, hailu might die before the next election
he is worse than lidetu
down with TPLF!!!
May 23rd, 2010 at 11:19 pm
Wasn’t it Hailu Shawel who dined and wined with EPRDF in the palace before the other opposition figures? I assume that he is still on the top list to replace Girma w/ Giosgis as president of Ethiopia. His long life is all about politics and the economic advantage that comes with relative power.
May 23rd, 2010 at 11:24 pm
zelzala Enginer, poletikegna negn blo moche egegnalew sil kermo, wey alemafer?
May 23rd, 2010 at 11:25 pm
I want hear from professor Mesfin how much he enjoyed this election and its results and what he is going to do at age 86 in 2015! I hope he will be more physical next time to punch everyone challenging him and kick some ass!
May 24th, 2010 at 12:00 am
Hailu shawel was criticized by many ethiopians never to sign the so called code of conduct. Now he got his price. Legesse zenawi tricked him again. Immediately after the signature ceremony, Mesfin Seyoum ( the tplf foreign secretary) took his signature and videos to state department in washington to show his bosses that oppositions have agreed to work together!
What kind of election can you expect with TPLF vote counters and and with hand picked election officials??
May 24th, 2010 at 12:58 am
This guy is a joke and why would it mater what ever he says anyways?
May 24th, 2010 at 1:12 am
Hailu Shawel, Foolish Old Man!!
May 24th, 2010 at 1:29 am
There was a foreign ambassador who was asked about the election. He said “When it comes of stability, Meles is the best man”. Are we in the diaspora and in Ethiopia dead enough to make these foreigners to continue to laugh at us? Why are we silent after this ambassador said this? Well, this is really an assurance for Meles that this time, all had to do is choke Ethiopia a few inch. The shameful Shawel, conceding “never again” is double whammy for Meles. Ethiopia will become Banana Republic and Haiti you can bet on it. Foreigners love him because he fulfills their dream. Shame on us!
May 24th, 2010 at 6:42 am
Dear all,
It is now apparent that the nation is calling for a Moses like leader who can redeem the time lost in all these futile cycles, a vibrant leader who incorporate the spiritual with the physical is highly needed.
God is looking for a new leader emerging with the courage of saying “Let my people go” Mark this word.
Peace be all.
May 24th, 2010 at 8:03 am
// hailu shawel accomplished his duty since he once destroyed kinijit and signed the HODE of conduct and now he wanted to be innocent. hailu is not diffrent from lidetu.
May 24th, 2010 at 9:04 am
ኢንጅነር ሃይሉ ሁሉን ነገር እያወቁ ሆን ብለው ነው የገቡበት:: ሰበብ ፈልገው ካልሆነ በቀር: ማንም ተራ ሰው የሚረዳውን ነገር ነው እየተናገሩ ያሉት:: መጀመሪያውኑ ፖለቲካ በቃኝ ብለው ለሌሎች ቦታውን መልቀቅ ይችሉ ነበር:: አሁን የኢህአዴግን ምርጫ ካደመቁ በኅላ ብዙ ማውራት ምንም ትርጉም የለውም:: ለማንኛውም እንካን ከፖለቲካው ወጡ:: ሌሎቹም አንጋፋዎች የሳቸውን ፈለግ ተከትለው ቢወጡ ጥሩ ነው:: ለኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ የፈየዱት ምንም ነገር የለም:: እስቲ አዲሱ ትውልድ ደግሞ ይሞክረው::
May 24th, 2010 at 9:21 am
Hailu haters are insulting millions of our people who came out yesterday and cast their votes. Election observers list of names was handed to TPLF cadres where they go after these people and terrorize them not to participate in observing this election.
May 23 is the death of peaceful struggle not a death of one man you hate. What you should you ask yourself is what you and your party you support did to defend the vote of our people. I was expecting you will use your muscle to warn the TPLF cadres.
The Hailu haters expertise seems only empty talk behind our people back. Show us what you are made of or else shut up !!!
May 24th, 2010 at 9:42 am
well-done !Hailu shawel it is long awaited. you have secured your business by selling 80 million Ethiopians to our killers. what else do you need?
0ne atse tewodrose le ethiopia!
Ethiopia shall prevail!!
lets pray!!!
May 24th, 2010 at 9:49 am
Who said, “What we learn from history is not learning?.” This is very true. The opposition bloc should have learned a lesson or two form the past, particularly from the failed election in the early 1990’s.
No party knows TPLF-EPRDF trick, the play book they follow, more than the OLF. They said, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame me.
May 24th, 2010 at 11:50 am
ነገሩ እውነት ክሆነ እንኳን የመለስ ቡድን አሸነፈ እላለሁ በቅጡ የተደራጀ ኢትዮጵያን ሊመራ የሚችል ምንም አየነት የፖለቲካ ፓርቲ አለ ብዮ በአሁኑ ጊዜ አላምንም::::::
May 24th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
ኢንጅነር ሀይሉ ወደ ምርጫ የገቡት ለኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ብለው እንዳልሆነ ቀደም ብለን ደግመንና ደጋግመን ብዙዎቻችን ተናግረናል: ሀቁ መውጣቱ አልቀረም: ትላንትና ሸራቶን ሆቴል ተፎክሰው በትቢትና በንቄት የኢዮጵያን ህዝብ ለወያኔ ሲያስረክቡት ከአሁን በኋላ እኔ ከመለሰ ጋር ቁጭ ብየ ከተስማማሁ ንብረቴንና ሀብቴ ከጠበቁልኝ ዲሞክራሲ አጣሁ ብሎ የሚጮህ ሰው ካለ ሰሚ የለውም ብለው ነግረውን ነበር ይህን አባባል የሰማችሁ የላችሁም? በስንኛው ወሩ ነው ህዝብንና ሀገርን ሸጠው ለማስመሰል አሁን ቢቀባጥሩ የማይመስል ነገር ነው:መድረክንም ሆነ ሌሎቹን ተወዳዳሪዎች ተሸንፋችኋል ኢንዲባሉ ያደረጉት ኢንጅነር ሀይሉ ናቸው::
አለመታደል ብሎ ለ19 ዓመት ሙሉ ህዝባችን ማወቅና መረዳት እንዴት እንደቸገረው በጣም ይገርማል: አንድ ሰው ስንት ጊዜ መካድና መዋሸት አለበት: ወደድንም ጠላን ከነገ ወዲያ የሀገራችን የፖለቲካ ሁኔታ በበለጠ ይቀየራል: መጀመሪያ ወደምርጫ መግባት እንዳልነበረባቸው ብዙ የፖለቲካ ሰዎች ተናግረዋል: ሰሚና ተቀባይ አልተገኘም ሁሉ አዋቂ ሁሉ ፖለቲከኛ ሆነ መደማመጥ የለም: ውጤቱ ይህን የመሰለ አሳፋሪና ውርደት ላይ መውደቅ ነው: አሁንም ዕድሉ አለ ወያኔን በምርጫ ማሸነፍ ማለት ድብብቆሽ ነው: ሁላችንም ለሀገርና ለህዝብ ብለን የምንጮህ ከሆነ በአንድነት ለአንድ የሀገርና የህዝብ ነጻነት እንነሳ አለበለዚያ የሀገራችንንና የህዝባችን ነገር እጅግ በጣም አሳሳቢ ነው: በነገራችን ላይ የኢንጅነር ሀይሉና የልደቱ መሸነፍ ለኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ከፍተኛ ድል ነው: ባንዳ ይቆያል እንጅ መወርወሩ አይቀርም: በዚህ አጋጣሚ በተለይ ለኢንጅነር ሀይሉ ተከታዮችና የግል ሎሌዎች እንኳን ደስ አላችሁ እላለሁ::
May 24th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
This old tug wasn’t trick he did it for the money. Shame on you! “Never Again” for what ? after acomplishing your mission which was selling out the people interest for money. Hailu is a disgusting power hungry old guy who has NO any moral value as an old person. Any ways history will judge him & he will go to Hell for selling the interest of the majority poor people who are suffering under the Meles & TPLF tribal aparthied system.
May 24th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
what Hailu shawel did is a diservice to Ethiopian people.He just sold out the struggle to woyane for a dime.Any how it is remarkable to see Hailu,the traitor being kicked out of the political scene with disgrace after
he gave his blessing to woyane to rule this country of ours indefinitly.ENE kemotku serd aybkel -
May 24th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
WE KNOW THE PEOPLE THAT HATE HAILU S. ARE USUALLY PEOPLE THAT HAVE ETHNIC COMPLEXES TOWARDS AMHARAS. PEOPLE OF ETHIOPIA VOTED FOR HAILU IN TWO ELECTION, KINIJIT & TODAY MEAD. SINCE THE WEST BELIEVES THAT IS AN AMHARA, THEY DON’T WANT HIM TO TAKE THE SIT. THE WEST IS TAKING AWAY POWER FROM EVERY MAJORITY GROUP IN AFRICA, NOT ONLY ETHIOPIA YOU MORONS, SO THEY CAN DO WHAT THEY WANT. ALL THOSE PEOPLE THAT WERE IN LINE TO VOTE IN 2005, AND 2010 WERE THERE BECAUSE OF HAILU. HE IS ALSO THE MOST EXPERIENCED AND UPDATED GENOUS OF ALL ETHIOIPIAN POLITICIANS. YOU PLAYHATERS, STOP HATING REAL ETHIOPIANS. HAILU WAS THE PLAYER OF THE NEW CENTURY. PEOPLE DON’T HATE THE PLAYER, HATE THE GAME.
May 24th, 2010 at 10:39 pm
ኢንጂነር ሀይሉ ሻውል የቆጡን አወርድ ብላ የብብቷን ጣለች :ከዚህም በኋላ ከፖለቲካ አለም መለየትዎ ወራዳ ፖለቲከኛ ከማረጉም በላይ በኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ ውስጥ ትልቅ ጠባሳ ጥለው እንዳለፍ እንዳይረሱ;አልጠግብ ባይ ሲተፋ ያድራል አለ አማራ ሲተርት:; ልደቱ ወጪት ሰባሪ የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ የማይወደውን ባህሪ ይዘህ ስትወዳደር ትንሽ አታፍርም ከሁለት ያጣ ከርታታ ማለት እንደአንተ ያለ ጥምብ አንሳ ነው አመሰግናለሁ
May 24th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
I’m sad EPRDF won by only 98p margin. They deserve 100p compared to people like Hailu and others in the opposition. Cry me a river
May 25th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
ሀይሉ shawel selfish ሰው ጉዞው የነበረው ለራሱ ሲል ነበረ አሁን የአዞ እንምባ ያነባብናል ባለፈው ኮድ ኦፍ ኮንዳክት ሲፈርም ምን ሲያወራ አንደነበረ ማስታወስ ያልቻለ ወራዳ ነው ለመሆኑ ምን ይዞ ነበረ በዛን ሰአት እንደዛ ሲደነፋ የነበረው ያ ሁሉ ድንፋታስ የት ገባ ማፈሪያ ግለሰብ ነው
May 26th, 2010 at 1:36 am
****የትግል ምዕራፍ አንድ፤መራራው ይጀመር።*****
ተቃዋሚዎች በጋራ በአንድነት የከፈሉትን የሰላም ትግል በመቀጠል በምርጫ ለለውጥ የተጠማው ሕዝቡ ድምፁን ስለተሰረቀ ታዛቢዎች የምርጫውን ሂደት ብልሹነት ያረጋገጡ በመሆኑ ፤የዓለም አሕጉራት ለውጤቱ ዕውቅና እንዳይሰጡ የጋራ መግለጫ ሊያወጡ ይገባል፤ወደፊት ይህ የወያኔ ቡድን የመንግሥትነት ስልጣን ከያዘ በኋላ የጀመረውን ጥፋት ከመቀጠልና ከማሳደድ አይመለስም።
ድል ለኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ።
አቢይ ኢትዮጵያዊ