Ethiopa in turmoil after election

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Western diplomats appealed Saturday for calm in Ethiopia, where both the ruling and opposition parties were claiming victory and accusing their rivals of vote-rigging as provisional results trickled in Saturday.

The National Electoral Board announced results for 40 seats – with 29 going to the opposition, mostly in the capital where it was expected to win. The opposition now has more than twice as many seats as it had in the last parliament.

Many more provisional results from the May 15 vote, seen as the most open and fair in Ethiopian history, were expected to be posted as the weekend continued. Final results are expected June 8.

As the parties traded accusations of elections fraud, diplomats from 21 nations that provide Ethiopia with foreign aid called for calm in a country where power has usually been seized through violence.

“Complaints and objections must be pursued peacefully through the legally established mechanisms,” said a joint statement issued by diplomats from the United States, Germany, Britain and 18 other Western countries.

The main opposition coalition has said it wants a revote and a recount for 84 seats, claiming ballot boxes were stolen, its supporters were prevented from voting and counting was stopped as it became clear that opposition candidates were ahead.

The ruling Ethiopia People’s Revolutionary Front, meanwhile, said the opposition stuffed ballot boxes, photocopied ballot papers for multiple use and tried to stop women from voting in two of the most hotly contested regions.

Electoral chief Kemal Bedri said the National Electoral Board has received complaints for more than 100 constituencies, but none were specific.

Although ruling party officials have conceded that the opposition made strong gains in the nation of 70 million people, they insist their party retains control of parliament.

The opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy and the allied United Ethiopian Democratic Forces went into the race with just 12 of the 547 seats in parliament.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is known as one of the continent’s more progressive leaders, and many considered last Sunday’s race a test of his commitment to democratic reform.