The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) said Saturday the recent report from the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU-EOM) was one-sided and partisan.

As the report of the EU-EOM on Ethiopia's May 15 parliamentary election is one-sided and partial, it will have no contribution for the democratization process in the country, said the electoral board in a statement.

It said the report, released here by EU-EOM chief Ana Gomez on Thursday, has destructive impacts on the electoral system of the country.

The statement said the EU-EOM report consisted evaluation points that deliberately divert the truth and reflect the desires of the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD).

The report contains contradictory remarks, the board said, and added that it was forced to release the statement.

The board quoted Gomez as saying CUD's witness, named Wudu Delelegn, was assassinated five days after he had given testimonies to the complaints investigation panel (CIP).

Nevertheless, the board added, the CIP has confirmed that Wudu had not even been counted as CUD's witness and his death has nothing to do with the country's parliamentary election.

The board said Ana Gomez failed to investigate what she gathered from oppositions, even to properly propagate it.

It said the Ethiopian government and the NEBE had taken various positive measures in a bid to make the May 15 election fair and democratic. Inviting international election observers was one of the efforts made by the Ethiopian government and the NEBE, the statement said, adding that the EU-EOM was among the international observers invited to observe the elections.

Most of the international observers had released preliminary reports immediately after the election, the statement said.

It added that except differences of presentation, most of the preliminary reports indicate the free and democratic conduct of the election both during the pre- and post-election periods.

Moreover, the observers have given their confirmation that there had been good election organization which is exemplary for other countries.

The European Union, the US-based Carter Center, the African Union and the Arab League were invited at institutional level, while many European, North American, African and Asian countries had observed the election through their representatives, the statement said.

Both the government and the NEBE held the belief that assessments of the election observation missions on polling stations would have contributions in indicating weak and strong points of the election process, it said.

However, it added, EU-EOM's report is found to be destructive rather than helping to strengthen the electoral system in the country.

The board said the report, which says "the rights of witnesses and party leaders were violated," was unexpected from a responsible and non-partisan election observer.

Moreover, the board said, Gomez has gone beyond her mandate to comment and say that "there was no clear division of power between the judiciary and legislative bodies.

The board urged Gomez not to be instrument of opposition political parties, which, the board said, sponsor destructive missions bent on making the public loose belief on the judicial and other democratic institutions of the country.

Source: Xinhua