20100523
PRESS TV

Voting has begun in Ethiopia to elect members of the lower House of Representatives and local councilors amid rights groups' criticism of "shrinking freedom."

Some 32 million voters have been registered for the May 23 national elections that are meant to determine the fate of 547 seats in the lower House of Representatives and regional councils.

Despite the promises of the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) for free and fair polls, rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, have criticized the government of Premier Meles Zenawi, which also presides over the EPRDF, for taking tough measures with the excuse of avoiding a repeat of mistakes that led to a 2005 post-election unrest.

The opposition says they obtained good results in 2005 and allege that Prime Minister Meles rigged the result of the polls, which sparked the deadly violence that left 193 protesters and seven policemen dead.

Meles has been in office since 1995.