“We will not repeat the mistakes committed in the 2005 elections”

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi By Kaleyesus Bekele Prime Minister Meles Zenawi yesterday said that his government would not repeat the mistakes committed in the May 2005 election in the May 2010 elections. At a press conference he gave yesterday at his office, Meles told local reporters that his government was not prepared for the election riots of 2005. “Starting from putting in place a sufficient police force to monitoring the activities of armed groups we were not well prepared to control riots. But the EPRDF is known for one thing - it could make mistakes but it will not repeat them,” Meles said. Asked about the possibilities of forming a coalition government with opposition parties, Meles said such ideas were floated by those who do not know about the country’s election law. He pointed out that the party which wins a majority seat forms a government. “If the EPRDF doesn’t win adequate seats, it will hand over power. It can not work together with opposition parties, which have a completely different objective. What has been done in Kenya and Zimbabwe is they tried to eliminate the ruling party from power though chaos and when they failed they said that they had established a coalition government. They said so after many lost their lives. This doesn’t work here,” he said. Read More...