Opposition withdraws from local elections.

15 Apr, 2008

The opposition party Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM) has pulled out of elections in Ethiopia in protest over the alleged intimidation of its agents during polling, Reuters news agency reports. OFDM is the second opposition party to withdraw from the elections after the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF), the largest opposition party in parliament, abandoned the race before the first round of polling on 13 April on the grounds that many of its candidates had been prevented from taking part.

On 13 April some 26 million eligible voters were called to elect their local council representatives and fill the parliamentary seats left vacant by the opposition following the general elections of May 2005. The ruling Ethiopian People