Ethiopia’s opposition denies that it may withdraw from an investigation of the May 15th vote. The electoral board has set up panels to carry out the investigation. This past week, some news outlets said the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy, or CUD, had withdrawn -- or was threatening to withdraw. The news reports said it was because of threats against members of the CUD in various parts of the country.
Today, the electoral board released partial results of the poll. It said so far the ruling party of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has won 139 out of 307 contested seats in the 547-seat parliament. It said the opposition CUD had won 93. Other seats are still pending.
Gizachew Shiferaw is a member of the CUD executive committee and chair of the Elections Irregularities and Rectification Committee.
English to Africa reporter William Eagle asked him about the news reports of opposition withdrawal from the committee investigating electoral complaints.
