Hadiya Zone - 2000 General Elections

2000 General Elections

According to the leadership of the Southern Ethiopia Peoples' Democratic Coalition, 666 of their members in the Hadiya Zone were arrested prior to the 2000 general elections, all of whom were charged with the same four counts: incitement against the government; incitement not to pay taxes and fertilizer loans; cutting government-owned forest; and illegal use of grazing lands. At year's end, 104 members remained in zonal prisons in Hosana and Durame; government officials reported a lower number.

Due to widespread protests over the handling of the election in Hadiya, elections in seven constituencies were re-run on 25 June of that year, which involved several teams of diplomatic observers, and polling stations were staffed by National Election Board of Ethiopia coordinators from the capital (due to mistrust of local officials), which resulted with the opposition party (Hadiya National Democratic Organization, HNDO) winning six of seven of the races. However, in a press conference held by Dr. Beyene Petros in the following month, he accused local cadres of the ruling party of avenging their electoral losses, telling drought victims in Hadiya, who asked for assistance, to go "ask Beyene". Hadiya informants reported intimidation and harassment of HNDO members by cadres of the ruling party in the aftermath of the election, to show that they were still in control of the kebele and woreda structures.