Sat Aug 6, 7:38 AM ET



ADDIS ABABA (AFP) - Ethiopia's two main opposition groups have called for the formation of a national unity government to overcome outstanding bitter disagreements over May polls that sparked deadly violence in the capital.

But the appeal to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Saturday was quickly rejected by his ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), which insists it won the May 15 elections fairly despite opposition claims of widespread ballot fraud.

In letter to Meles, the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) and United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF) proposed a three-way meeting facilitated by "a third party" to consider forming a unity government.

"Our proposal is to suggest a way out of the current political impasse," they said in the letter that also asked for the assistance of the international donor community to assist in resolving the deadlock.

"At this meeting/conference, the parties will hammer out their differences and set up a National Unity Government together with other political groups that would make a critical contribution to the process," it said.

It said the unity government would be a temporary measure but one that would end "political harassment and violence" and return the country to normalcy.

Ethiopian Information Minister Berekat Simon immediately denounced the opposition proposal, accusing the CUD and UEDF of attempting to bypass the will of the people, who he maintained supported the EPRDF.

"This is another attempt to derail the democratic process in which the winner is becoming clear to the public at-large within the process (the opposition) themselves have accepted and participated in," he told AFP.

"It is an open declaration of non-acceptance of majority rule," Berekat said. "It is saying 'we are not going to accept a legitimate government formed by the majority'."

Ethiopia has been mired in political stalemate since the polls nearly three months ago, with the opposition claiming massive ruling party vote fraud and complaining of inaction on its allegations by election authorities.

Late Friday, the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) announced that partial or total re-votes would take place in 29 of the 523 constituencies contested on May 15, well below the number demanded by the opposition.

The re-votes will take place on August 21, the same day as residents of Ethiopia's remote Somali state will cast ballots for the first time for the remaining 23 seats in parliament under the country's split election cycle.

The board has still not released definitive results from the May 15 elections but partial official returns show the EPRDF and its allies with 263 seats in parliament and opposition groups with 172 seats.

The board's release of preliminary results showing an absolute EPRF majority in parliament set off protests in June that led to clashes between police and crowds in Addis Ababa in which at least 36 people and possibly as many as 40 were killed.

In their appeal to Meles, the opposition parties said they feared the violence and an ensuing government crackdown might herald a return to the repressive tactics of the Soviet-backed "Derg" regime that ruled from 1974 until 1991.

"There is a clear and distinct danger that the country may return to the dark days of the Derg regime, where the use of force becomes the chosen means of suppressing political dissent or expressing political opposition," they said.

Ethiopian officials have roundly rejected as scaremongering such comparisons in the past and defended the actions of the security forces as necessary to prevent "hooligans" from rampaging through the capital.

I think time is up for opposition rancor
they either abide by the law or face criminal charges
it's here plain and simple see for youself
http://64.27.65.90:8080/ramgen/waltainfo/etv/Meles_Intv2.rm