Shimels Sisay

Electoral Participation of Persons with Disabilities in Ethiopia: Critical Examination of the Law and the Practice Shimels Sisay

In the 21st century where people are becoming the ultimate sources of political power, it is hard for a country to call itself as a democracy without maintaining participatory and inclusive political environment in its polity. With these points in mind, this work is intended to scrutinize the political role of persons with disabilities in the Ethiopian politics only to the extent of their participation as voters, candidates for elections and as members of different political parties. This is with a prior fact that almost 10% of the total population of the country is covered by these people. Accordingly, any electoral proceedings are required to be held in the manner that can ensure the active involvement of these people in the game. Though there are conceptual transformations in approaching disability from the medical and charity perceptions to those of social and human rights approaches at the international level, the country and the society at large does not seem to coup up with such changes. Taking into consideration of these and related challenges, the author suggested valuable recommendations with specific reference to the directly responsible stakeholders.