Women Voices in Inter-Party Debates during the 2021 Ethiopian General Elections
Main Article Content
Keywords
women candidates, election debates, Ethiopia, In-equal representation, Media
Abstract
In Ethiopia, multiparty elections are being organised every five years. For the 2021 general election, 47 parties were registered and more than 9,300 candidates ran for seats, of which, 1, 982 were women candidates. This study explored women candidates’ participation in election debates during the 2021 Ethiopian general elections. Using qualitative approach and content analysis technique, 35 television debates streamed in six stations were watched and analysed. Moreover, media legal documents and election reports are reviewed in gender lens. The findings revealed that the Ethiopia mainstream media cover men and women politicians differently during election campaign. The frequency of parties’ appearance in television debates and their gender representation are found to vary depending on the issues discussed and the media style of coverage. Female politicians were primarily being featured under the theme of gender, health, and education debates. Moreover, women candidates’ role in the election debates was limited in introducing and summarising their party policies while their men counterparts took the modest air time to present the details of the policy alternatives and to criticise the existing policies.
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References
References (primary data)
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FANA Broadcasting Corporate. (2021). Ethiopian election 2021 debate on gender equality in Ethiopia. You Tube. Retrieved May 8, 2021 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpRRDIVqS_8
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FANA Broadcasting Corporate. (2021). Ethiopian election 2021 debate on culture, tourism, and language in Ethiopia. You Tube. Retrieved June 2, 2021 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-wTbqcq7e8
FANA Broadcasting Corporate. (2021). Ethiopian election 2021 debate on disability and inclusiveness in political parties’ policy. You Tube. Retrieved June 3, 2021from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKSDByTvSZ4
FANA Broadcasting Corporate. (2021). Final debate on the 6th general election in Ethiopia. You Tube. Retrieved June 16, 2021 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTLyxGZF4v4
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WALTA Media and Communication Corporate. (2021). Ethiopian election 2021 debate on constitution, federalism, and diversity in Ethiopia. You Tube. Retrieved April 22, 2021 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsNyI4AdpV8
WALTA Media and Communication Corporate. (2021). Ethiopian election 2021 debate on eexternal relation and national security in Ethiopia. You Tube. Retrieved May 14, 2021from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot86fQz3zHM
WALTA Media and Communication Corporate. (2021). Ethiopian election 2021 debate on industry development and investment in Ethiopia. You Tube. Retrieved May 20, 201 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPke3rF7t24
WALTA Media and Communication Corporate. (2021). Ethiopian election 2021 debate on social policies: Education and health policy in Ethiopia. You Tube. Retrieved May 26, 2021 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVq1az__NOk
WALTA Media and Communication Corporate. (2021). Ethiopian election 2021 debate on infrastructure development and urbanization in Ethiopia. You Tube. Retrieved June 2, 2021 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3vtfvAV7Rc
WALTA Media and Communication Corporate (2021, June 7). Ethiopian election 2021 debate on agriculture and rural development in Ethiopia. You Tube. Retrieved June 7, 2021 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti_4l2Cb28o
WALTA Media and Communication Corporate (2021, June 9). Ethiopian election 2021 debate on social policies: Women and youth in Ethiopia. You Tube. Retrieved June 9, 2021 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqsO2Gzj1FQ
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Women Voices in Inter-Party Debates during the 2021 Ethiopian General Elections. (2025). African Journal of Political Science, 13(1), 21-37. https://doi.org/10.36615/p97mtg94
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Women Voices in Inter-Party Debates during the 2021 Ethiopian General Elections. (2025). African Journal of Political Science, 13(1), 21-37. https://doi.org/10.36615/p97mtg94