Postponement of December elections likely

Eritrean parliamentary elections planned for this month are unlikely to go ahead as various essential factors are not yet in place, regional analysts and government officials said on Wednesday. The analytical group, Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), predicted that elections could be delayed due to the current political climate in the country, but said it was possible the polls would be held before mid-2002. Eritrea underwent political upheaval earlier this year when President Isayas Afewerki arrested prominent government dissidents from the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) and banned the private press. "If they [elections] go ahead, they are unlikely to be viewed as legitimate by the international community as a result of the crackdown on opponents of the regime in October," the EIU said in its latest country report on Eritrea. The elections would be the first in Eritrea following its independence from Ethiopia in 1993 and would usher in a new parliament, which in turn would elect a president. But in any case, it was likely that President Isayas Afewerki and the ruling People's Front for Democracy and Justice party (PFDJ) would be re-elected, the EIU said. Although there has been no official statement regarding a postponement of the elections, Eritrea's deputy ambassador in Nairobi Temedhin Temariam told IRIN the current situation was not conducive for such a poll, neither were the appropriate institutions in place. He noted that the draft electoral law and the law on parties first had to be ratified. Furthermore, he said, elections were not the main focus of the government, the country and the people at the present time. "The main focus is the problem with Ethiopia [following the two-year border war], given this critical stage of the peace process," Temedhin said. The Boundary Commission at the International Court in The Hague is currently hearing the cases of both countries, before finally giving its verdict on border demarcation and delimitation in February. The decision will be binding to both sides. "The peace process is moving ahead, albeit slowly, and elections cannot be the priority," Temedhin stressed. Elections could only take place once there was regional peace - notably with Ethiopia - and internal stability. Temedhin pointed out that many of the country's most able people were still in the army and preoccupied with the conflict with Ethiopia. "Elections now would not be meaningful and would not bring about any positive results," he said. He emphasised that there were still 70,000 internally displaced people from the war with Ethiopia, and another 160,000 old caseload refugees returning from Sudan. "For the government to focus on elections at the cost of solving the border and refugee problems is clearly an inversion of priorities," he said. According to the deputy ambassador, the national assembly tentatively decided at a meeting in September last year that December 2001 might be the right time for elections, hoping that a conducive atmosphere would have developed by then. "The institutionalisation of social development and the holding of elections had been placed on the backburner as a result of the war," he explained. But, he added, December 2001 was never a binding date. "The possible postponement should not be a reason for worry on the part of Eritrea's friends and development partners," Temedhin said.