One man's tragic story of Ethiopia's political journey

One man's tragic story of Ethiopia's political journey

Ayalew Wedajo was born during the reign of an emperor and has lived under a brutal Marxist regime and three-decades of iron-fisted rule in which he son was killed.

With Ethiopia voting on Monday, he is hopeful for peace.

David Doyle has more.

Before casting his vote in Ethiopia's elections on Monday, Ayalew Wedajo said a prayer for his son.

Getinet was killed in pro-democracy protests 16 years ago.

"Let our children be the last who died like this.

Let it all be enough for the Ethiopian people." Ayalew's life, and the tragedy it has contained, reflects Ethiopia's tumultuous political history.

He was born during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie - last of a line of kings who traced their blood back to the Biblical King Solomon.

Ayalew remembers streets filled with soldiers and helicopters flying low in 1974.

A military coup had ousted the Emperor.

A brutal Marxist regime - known as the Derg - then ruled until 1991.

That was when rebels, spearheaded by fighters from the northern Tigray region, seized power.

They were the Tigray People's Liberation Front.

When Ayalew and his neighbors spilled onto the streets, they didn't realise they were welcoming three decades of iron-fisted rule.

"When the previous regime came into power, we Ethiopian people thought that it would be something better than the Derg.

We accepted them, we thought it would be better.

But it wasn’t." It was under the rule of the TPLF that Ayalew's son was killed.

Most elections had been marred by rigging and repression, but in 2005 the opposition swept the capital Addis Ababa and won an unprecedented 147 out of 547 parliamentary seats.

A subsequent crackdown killed hundreds and thousands were arrested.

Ayalew says his son had dropped off a friend and was "just standing there" when he was hit by a bullet.

Years of increasingly bloody anti-government protests finally forced the prime minister to resign in 2018.

Abiy Ahmed was appointed prime minister by the ruling coalition.

He's brought in sweeping political and economic reforms though some opposition parties say those freedoms are now being rolled back.

Rights groups have also accused Abiy's government of abuses in its war with the TPLF, which broke out in November.

Abiy billed Monday's vote as Ethiopia's "first attempt at free and fair elections" and said the country would show it can hold a peaceful poll.

And Ayalew is hopeful.

"What we saw happen back in 2005 – all that happened then, we don’t want that happen again.

But I think that this one will be more peaceful – that’s what I can see."