Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-10-12-Speech-3-162"
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"en.20051012.16.3-162"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I welcome the coordinated action of the European Union in the management of this crisis. The UK Presidency, the EU High Representative, Javier Solana, and myself have maintained continuous high-level contacts.
The message from the European Union, which was relayed by the troika at Addis Ababa, was, and is, to call on all of the political parties to keep the electoral process and the political dialogue on track. I also welcome the progress made since 2 October in the dialogue between the government and the opposition. In actual fact, there was a serious risk of derailment, which threatened to lead the country into a scenario from which there was positively no way back. On that occasion, I wrote to the Prime Minister to express my concern regarding the climate of tension among the various political forces and the need to keep all of the channels of communication open. Releasing all of the political prisoners and reopening the offices of the opposition parties, which were closed by the authorities, will be steps in this direction.
I observed with a great deal of interest the opening session of the Ethiopian Federal Parliament and the reelection of the Prime Minister, Mr Zenawi, on 10 and 11 October. The proper and normal functioning of Parliament is a prerequisite for a multi-party political scene in Ethiopia being established and for democracy in the country taking root. I met Prime Minister Zenawi on three occasions prior to this phase. On each occasion, I firmly reiterated our expectations with regard to how the opposition should be dealt with. I believe that that is absolutely crucial. If, within the Ethiopian Parliament, the largest opposition party – the CUD – were to continue to be absent, this could become a factor of instability. The same would be true if the new majority were not to be introduced for the running of the capital, Addis Ababa.
I am convinced that the European Union must continue to be involved in a constructive, yet firm and demanding, dialogue with all of the parties in order to continue to have a positive bearing and influence on the process under way in Ethiopia. This is what I intend to see happen in the framework of the political dialogue.
I should like to make one final remark: I am concerned about the renewed tension between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The European Union must also exercise vigilance in this respect."@en1
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