In Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, it is hard to tell an election will happen on Monday that will decide the next five years of Africa’s second most populous country.
A few people can be spotted wearing T-shirts with the wheat symbol of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Prosperity Party (PP), but there are no election posters anywhere.
The party held its only major campaign rally in the capital on Tuesday. It was over by 8:00 am and Abiy, who has ruled since 2018, did not appear.
Few doubt he will cruise back to power with a landslide victory for the PP — no doubt why it is not wasting time and money on campaigning. Online debates between candidates garner just a few hundred views.
Ethiopia’s 130 million citizens are used to votes that look pre-determined.
Almost every election since the overthrow of the brutal Derg dictatorship in 1991 has ended with one party winning 90 to 100 percent of seats in parliament, often amid allegations of fraud.
“I don’t think my vote can have a significant impact on politics,” said Tesfalem, a designer in the capital, saying he won’t participate.
“The voice of the people has never changed anything. And I don’t think it will this time either,” agreed Amanuel, a teacher in the Oromia region.
They gave only their first names for fear of reprisals in a political climate that has hardened of late.
Abiy emerged from the ranks of the previous ruling party to take control in 2018, and initially showed signs of a liberal streak — freeing jailed opposition members and journalists. He even won the Nobel Peace Prize for resolving tensions with neighbouring Eritrea.
But that gave way to mounting repression, particularly of the media.
Several international media groups have been refused entry for the election, and Ethiopia has slipped to 148th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ Press Freedom Index.
The irony is that the PP has a positive story to tell: under Abiy, Ethiopia’s economy has grown by more than seven percent per year, even if this is mostly the consequences of earlier reforms. It could even top 10 percent this year — among the highest rates in the world.
Abiy has taken steps to reduce state control of the economy, modernise the capital, and inaugurated Africa’s largest dam, which is expected to double electricity production.
