It has almost been three months since Ethiopia held its parliamentary elections, and the results have been delayed over and over and over. And the results aren’t all that surprising, especially after all the lack of transparency in the counting process, the putting opposition leaders under house arrest, the banning of protests, and the beating and shooting of student protestors. The government is really after Jimmeh Carter’s naive little heart (who, by the way, certified the elections after walking around a bit even when EU observers would not). Even after all of this, who still wins? You guessed it.

Ethiopia’s ruling party has won an absolute majority in Parliament in disputed May elections and will form the country’s next government, according to final results released on Tuesday.

“According to official results, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front ÄEPRDFÅ has won 296 seats that would enable it to form the federal government,” the board said in a statement.

Ethiopia’s two main opposition groups, the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) and the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF), took 109 and 52 seats respectively in the May 15 polls, the board said.

When combined with victories by allied parties, the EPRDF will control 318 seats in the 547-member Parliament and the opposition 174, according to the results released by the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia.

The CUD and UEDF had bitterly complained about alleged massive ruling-party vote fraud after preliminary results showed Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s EPRDF winning the election.

Protests against alleged electoral irregularities turned violent in June when up to 40 people were killed in Addis Ababa during demonstrations, and the opposition has not relented in its accusations of fraud.

The results issued on Tuesday cover 492 of the 524 constituencies that were contested on May 15 but give the EPRDF and its allies an unbeatable lead in Parliament.

Re-elections are to be held in the remaining 32 constituencies on August 21, the same day that voters in remote Somali state will go to the polls for the first time to elect their 23 representatives under Ethiopia’s split election cycle.

The opposition is saying that they will take the results to court. I wish them the best, but that will do them no good, as both the board and the courts are effectively controlled by the government. In fact, the head of the election board, Kemal Bedria, is also the chief of the Supreme Court. Going to the court will obviously not have the results reversed, but it will exhaust a very important legal means of protest against fraud. It is generally known that the courts and the board side with the government on most everything, so taking the issue there will put the court in the ackward position of proving to the people that, in fact, they do.

On the other hand, it suggests that the opposition considers the courts to be a truly legal means when they are corrupt beyond the point of use. In Ukraine, the results when to the constitutional court and were overturned, but the difference was well over a million people in the streets of Kiev. This won’t happen because one particular opposition leader named Berhanu Nega has stolen the spotlight and divided the opposition. In reality, he wants to satisfy his personal ambitions and run for president in 2010, not help the people of Ethiopia. Judging by his moves, he is even thought to be working in favor of Meles, if not for him directly. Menber at the Ethiopian Review Readers’ Forum explains why.

By now, we should be convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that Berhanu Nega is buying time for Meles Zenawi.

He executed a brilliant strategy on behalf of Meles. He formed a political party on the eve of the elections, persuaded key political personalities to split from UEDF and form CUD. He pushed CUD to ignore the preconditions put forward by UEDF, which included the dismantling of the National Election Board. The oppositions are paying a hefty price for that disastrous move. In the aftermath of the elections, when students protested the rigged elections, once again, Berhanu Nega came to Meles???????? rescue. He blamed the innocent students and rushed to sign the truce, another coward move.

Under the disguise of lobbying the international community, he has hijacked the struggle. He has become the supreme spokesperson for the opposition, preventing other genuine opposition leaders from coming forward to defend the public????????s interests.

After all his endless mishaps, Berhanu wants to go to the TPLF court to fight the National Election Board????????s decision. Only Berhanu can explain why the woyane court will rule against TPLF handpicked National Election Board. One can suspect that he is suggesting this rubbish idea to appease the anxiously waiting public with a clear intent to help Meles to move strategically. Berhanu is a very dangerous guy who should be castigated from the struggle. He is Meles???????? boy, not our.

Remember, he is on the record saying that his objective for joining the May 2005 elections is to place himself in a strategic position for elections 2010. How many innocent Ethiopians must perish to fulfill the political ambition of Berhanu Nega? The opposition leaders must free themselves from Berhanu. Yes, show Berhanu the Door, he is not on our side!

The government strategy the whole time was to split the opposition itself while manipulating the election results behind the scenes. It is definitely time to show Berhanu the door, as well as President Meles. Unfortunately, the so-called legal means are running out, so they will have to be extra organized, resilient, and creative. This means mass civil disobedience and protests at any possible moment. They need to let the government that they aren’t going to stand for phony elections, and that their rule is not legitimate in their eyes.