The ruling EPRDF has not only refused to amend the electoral laws and change the electoral commission controlled by it but it has now stepped up the violence against opposition candidates and supporters all over the country.

After the killing of opposition supporters in Eastern Gojjam, the security forces of the regime have now murdered Ahmedin Adem Abdi in Ambo region.Ahmedin was an activist of the opposition Oromo National Council and the United Democratic Ethiopian Forces to which the ONC belongs. In the same area, many supporters of the opposition have been rounded up and jailed. Security forces and cadres of the ruling EPRDF have threatened opposition candidates with death if they do not withdraw their candidacy. Other opposition candidates have been denied registration on one flimsy excuse after another while the top officials of the ruling front are registered in districts and towns where they had not been born or had not resided in for the last two years as the electoral law itself demands. In other words, the stage is set for the rigging of the coming May 2005 election and the regime has made clear its intentions by ordering three election monitoring groups from the USA to leave Ethiopia.

By any standards, be it compared to Togo or Zimbabwe, the situation in Ethiopia is worse. The ruling front controls the electoral process, has distributed two or more electoral cards to its cadres and supporters, is threatening people with retribution of all sports if they vote for the opposition, has registered soldiers and non existent or ghost "people" as electors, and is all set to win another round in an unfair and rigged manner. The official propaganda claiming that there is real competition and the field is fair and free is proven false by the day to day actions of the ruling front that shows no intention of holding a fair and free election. In other words, it is clear that the May 2005 election in Ethiopia will surely be a rigged and false one despite claims to the contrary by the EPRDF and its supporters.