“Gentlemen,

Thank you for coming to this Press Conference.  We have a statement to make about the Elections of May 15, 2005.

As the name of our Movement indicates, we are Oromos and our focus is the Oromo Nation.  Like everybody else, we wish peace and tranquility, now and for the future, for Ethiopia, because we all benefit from peace. 

We want to underline that the present political turmoil in the country should not shroud the Oromo question.  In 1991, the Oromo people thought that their question of self-determination was partially resolved when a federal structure was put in place.  But the federal structure conceived at that time has never been implemented.  Indeed, after that and following events, the oppression of our people continued to the point where today most people in Ethiopian prisons are Oromos.  Oromo young people are in prison in large numbers because of suspicion that they are supporters of OLF. 

While a genuine federal system has not been implemented in Ethiopia, there are forces which want to even abolish the theoretical federalism which remains only in the book.  Tampering with the principle of federalism is a direct assault on Oromo's political agenda.  Federalism and the Oromo question are intricately intertwined.  This is our concern now.

With regard to the Election process, we would like to express our most profound concern about Election rigging.  In many ballotting stations, our agents have been kicked out - some in the middle of counting the ballots.  Some of our agents were thrown into jail the day before the Elections.  One of our agents was threatened with a gun at his head, and he had to leave his post as agent and the ballot box was opened in his absence.  Such experiences were repeated in over 30 balloting stations.

Those of us who were elected, were elected because our youths directly confronted Government forces with courage and risking their lives.  They worked throughout the night with candle lights and refused to leave the booth at any cost.  The candidates in these particular stations also refused to leave the area.  In such places as Shashemanne, Tullubollo, Tedji and Kokosa/Bale, the candidates themselves were intimidated and left their area. 

Our continuous bombardment of the Election Board and the International Observers’ teams has not produced any results.”

The Press asked whether WAFIDO was going to join any political party in order to form a coalition government, and if so, which party.  Our answer was that our immediate Election problems must be resolved before we even think of answering that question.  Furthermore, we are preoccupied with the unresolved Oromo question including Oromo rights to the economic and social benefits to be drived from Finfinnee.  We said that whoever rules Finfinnee must deal with this fundamental issue.  We have too many problems facing us to think of the answer to that question. 

After this, a lengthy Press Release was read in Amharic, dealing with detailed problems in the various constituencies. 

WAFIDO