By Staff Reporter
ADDIS ABABA – (BORKENA) – Opposition parties expressed concern that the draft directives meant to revoke the representation of the people’s representatives at the parliament would deliberately be used by the ruling party as an instrument to purge opposition parties from the parliament, sources said.
Ethio-FM 107.8 Radio reported here today that the parties are in doubt regarding the draft document tabled recently for ratification by the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia. If ratified, it gives the authority to the House to evict members of any political parties from the parliament when they “violate the rules of the game”. What the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) claims is that the convict will be sent out of the Parliament if his or her respective electorate submit complaints that they lost trust in him or her.
However, opposition parties are expressing concern that the directive can be misused by the ruling party to sideline those politicians who are not favoured by the incumbent government, Ethio-FM reported.
Member of the Wolaita People’s Democratic Front, Gobeze Goan, said that there needs to be introduced a strong system that can withstand chances that are deliberately used as instruments to remove any members of the House of Peoples’ Representatives and regional councils from the public arena.
Gobeze said that NEBE needs to be very cautious so that the ruling party does not violate the law by abusing the guidelines to evict a party member who is strong and not willing to bow down to the political whims of the governing body.
Representative of All Ethiopian Unity Organization, Mamushet Amare, said that through this law, peoples’ representatives who boldly express their views in the House will be evicted from their membership (seat) by the ruling party on the pretext of “will not allow us to work”.
Member of the Ethiopian Socialist Democratic Party, Rachel Bafe (Dr.), asked how it could be confirmed whether the request that demands the removal of the MP is coming from the right electorate? How can it be checked if it is not politically motivated, she enquired.
Acting Chairman of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia, Wubshet Ayele, said the Board would strictly monitor whether any possible influence posed against a representative of the parliament is coming from the ruling or a rival party.
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