Addis Ababa, May 22, 2015(WIC) ¬ – National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) said the participation of the people in the general elections has shown an upward trajectory.
A research conducted by the Office Head of the Board Nega Dufisa indicated that the awareness and public involvement in elections has been growing since 1995.
The research indicated that the number of participants in 1995 general election was 21.3 million, which raised 21.8 million in 2000 general election.
Having showing an upward trajectory, the number of participants reached 27.4 million in 2005, Nega said adding that 36.8 million people have already registered to vote in the 5th general election.
He added that participation on election is highly linked with the understanding of democratic rights by the public and the sense of ownership.
Nega also indicated that among the total people registered for the 5th National Election, about 17, 852,103 or 48 per cent of the voters are women.
There were only 17 women who got seats in the House of Representatives in the first General Election but the number of women seats has now grown
He also emphasized that in the 5th general Election, there are 58 competing political parties that represented 1, 828 candidates for house of representatives and 3, 991 candidates for regional councils,.
More that 250 thousand election executives are ready to participate in the 5th National General Election.