Ethiopia’s Meles Says Aid Allegations ‘Outrageous and Stupid’
December 16th, 2009 | by addis portal |By Jason McLure
Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) — Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi denied allegations by opponents that his government has kept foreign food aid from people who refuse to support his ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front.
“If they are saying the system is designed in such a way that people who are hungry will be allowed to die or continue to be hungry if they are not members of the party, that is outrageous and stupid,” he said in a press conference today in the capital, Addis Ababa. “There is no such system. There will never be such a system.”
Members of Ethiopia’s opposition including Beyene Petros of the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces and Gizachew Shiferaw of the Unity for Democracy and Justice party have accused the government of withholding food aid given by the U.S. and other donors from opposition supporters.
The prime minister also turned aside U.S. State Department concerns expressed yesterday about press freedom and a law restricting foreign funding of human rights and pro-democracy groups ahead of national elections scheduled for May.
Earlier this month, the country’s largest private newspaper, Addis Neger, closed after its top editors fled the country, accusing the government of using a new anti-terror law to silence the press. That led the U.S. Embassy to issue a statement today expressing concern that such moves “contribute to a perception that space for independent media in Ethiopia is constrained.”
‘Last Word’
“We don’t take this institution seriously because they have proven to us over and over again they take any accusation against the government as the last word in the Bible,” Meles said of the shuttered publication.
The prime minister said the human rights law, which limits organizations that lobby for democracy, good governance and women’s rights from getting more than 10 percent of their funds from foreign sources, was consistent with practices in industrialized democracies.
He also said his ruling party would not negotiate with the opposition over the release of jailed UDJ leader Birtukan Mideksa, who was imprisoned in December 2008 after the government accused her of violating terms of a 2007 pardon that temporarily released her from a life sentence.
Amnesty International considers her a prisoner of conscience, and her supporters say she was jailed for building a party with the potential to beat Meles’ EPRDF in a free and fair election.
“There will never be an agreement with anybody to release Birtukan,” he said. “Ever. Full stop. That’s a dead issue.”
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