Doubts over smooth election process

With the two year-old border conflict with Ethiopia over and the UN monitored Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) between the two countries in place, attention in Eritrea has shifted to the forthcoming elections, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said on Monday. The elections, scheduled for December 2001, would be for a new parliament of independents, for local government at communal and county levels and for mayorships. The new parliament would then elect the president, EIU said. The elections would be the first to take place since Eritrea formalised independence from Ethiopia in 1993. The lack of political parties and of any real opposition meant there was some doubt that the process would be smooth, speculated EIU. Most large organisations and workers coalitions were under the ruling People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) regime and its leader, Isayas Afewerki, and were unlikely to mobilise against the government, it said.