The executive committee of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (Kinijit) is increasingly leaning toward the idea of not participating in the local elections in April, 2008. The April elections are also intended to fill the seats in the federal parliament left vacant by Kinijit members.
Kinijit is expected to make a decision in the coming few days on whether to take part in the elections. It is not that it has a choice. According to members of the executive committee, the Woyanne regime is making it difficult for Kinijit to exist as a political party, let alone to participate in elections.
The big question then is, what will Kinijit do if it cannot — or decides not — to participate in the April elections?
Ethiopian Review recommends that Kinijit calls a nationwide boycott of the April elections.
Kinijit can also intensify its worldwide diplomatic effort, such as urging donor countries, the WorldBank and the U.N. to withdraw all assistances until Woyanne allows all opposition parties are equally represented in the electoral board, have access to the media, and freely operate throughout the country. For this purpose, it may be a good idea for the executive committee to send delegations to Europe and North America led by high profile Kinijit council members. The U.S. Senate should also be urged to expedite the process of approving H.R. 2003, which will put tremendous pressure on the Woyanne junta.
April is also an opportune time for armed groups such as OLF, EPPF, ONLF and others to intensify their military activities.