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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADDIS ABABA 002624 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ET
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: FOUR PARTIES SIGN ELECTORAL CODE OF 
CONDUCT WITH A SPLASH 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. After nearly three months of often tedious 
negotiation, four Ethiopian political parties -- including 
the ruling EPRDF -- have signed a preamble to a code of 
conduct (CoC) intended to govern the political campaign 
leading to the May 2010 parliamentary elections.  Speaking at 
the October 30 signing ceremony, Prime Minister (and EPRDF 
Chairman) Meles Zenawi announced that the CoC would force all 
political parties to act in a way that will allow the 
elections to meet universal standards for fairness. 
Representatives of the three involved opposition parties -- 
AEUP, CUD, and EDP -- generally spoke of a sense of mutual 
trust that emerged from the lengthy negotiations.  CUD 
spokesman Ayele Chamisso struck the only negative note when 
he alleged that the nonparticipation of the Forum opposition 
coalition put into question its commitment to democracy.  The 
CoC itself will now be submitted to a standing committee in 
Parliament for enactment of implementing legislation.  The 
CoC's preamble suggests that the negotiating group that 
produced it will be made permanent and will assume 
jurisdiction over grievances involving alleged mistreatment 
of party members and alleged misconduct on the National 
Electoral Board.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Four political parties, collectively accounting for 
85 percent of the seats in the Ethiopian Parliament, have 
signed a five-page "preamble" to a "Joint Agreement on the 
Electoral Code of Conduct for Political Parties," intended to 
guide political behavior during the dawning campaign season 
leading to May 23, 2010 national elections.  (NOTE.  An 
English-language version of the preamble (e-mailed AF/E) was 
made available at the signing ceremony.  The Code of Conduct 
(CoC) itself is nine pages and was not signed at the October 
30 ceremony.  Rather, it will be incorporated by reference 
into a 15-page proposed legislative package to be considered 
by the Ethiopian Parliament's standing committee on 
legislation.  END NOTE.)  Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, 
chairman of the ruling Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary 
Democratic Front (EPRDF), made a surprise appearance at the 
October 30 signing ceremony and addressed a Sheraton Hotel 
ballroom packed with Ethiopian and international dignitaries. 
 Taking an expansive view of the effect the CoC will have on 
the campaign, Meles said: "(T)he document will force 
opposition parties to compete in the elections in a 
meaningful and legal manner only.  It will force the ruling 
party to provide adequate, lawful, and impartial venues to 
opposition political parties.  The adoption of the (CoC) is a 
great achievement as it will enable the ruling party and the 
opposition to compete in elections that fulfill democratic 
standards." 
 
¶3. (SBU) All Ethiopian Union Party (AEUP) Chairman Hailu 
Shawel called the CoC "a great stride forward," adding that 
the negotiating process that produced its preamble had left 
the participating parties "looking at each other with trust 
in place of previous suspicion."  A widely circulated photo 
from the signing ceremony had Meles shaking hands with Hailu, 
who was controversally jailed and sentenced to life in prison 
(later pardoned) upon being convicted of attempting to 
overthrow the government by force in the aftermath of the 
2005 elections. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The chairmen of the Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP) 
and the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) -- both 
technically opposition parties but largely in step with EPRDF 
policy -- were similarly full of praise for the CoC.  CUD 
Chairman Ayele Chamisso had the only negative comment of the 
30-minute signing ceremony.  Referring to the opposition 
Forum for Democratic Dialogue (Forum), Ayele said its 
nonparticipation called into question its commitment to 
democracy, and he called on the Forum's eight constituent 
parties to re-engage. 
 
¶5. (SBU) COMMENT. The Ethiopian Partners Group (EPG) of 
foreign missions in Addis Ababa originally proposed that 
Ethiopian political parties adopt an electoral code of 
conduct, and the three-month interparty process that yielded 
the CoC preamble is testament to the seriousness with which 
at least these four parties take international community 
opinion.  Political hyperbole aside, however, the signing of 
a CoC preamble does little of itself to ensure free and fair 
elections.  Although the signing of the preamble is a welcome 
piece of rare good news on the Ethiopian political scene, it 
is very modest.  There remain daunting procedural and 
substantive questions: Will these four parties and other 
important players (including the National Electoral Board 
(NEB)) manage to draft a consensus legislative package to 
give the CoC the force of law?; Will the negotiating group 
(now dubbed the "Joint Council") evolve into a body with real 
 
ADDIS ABAB 00002624  002 OF 002 
 
 
capacity and jurisdiction to deliberate over thorny questions 
involving political prisoners and NEB misconduct, as 
envisioned vaguely in paragraph 16-17 of the preamble)?; How 
will the EPRDF-controlled police and judicial structures 
react to what could amount to parallel Joint Council 
jurisdiction over claims of official misconduct?  Stay Tuned. 
MUSHINGI