Stage-managed elections in the east African country deliver a fourth term for Meles Zenawi.

By ABEBE GELLAW

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, one of America's key allies in Africa, is gloating over his "landslide victory" in the country's national elections earlier this month. The ruling party has claimed to have swept all but two of the 546 declared seats, which is more than enough to make the parliament a complete rubber stamp for Mr. Zenawi.

On Tuesday, a few hours before international observers released their preliminary report on the credibility of the polls, Mr. Zenawi gathered tens of thousands of his supporters for a victory rally at Meskel Square in Addis Ababa, and called on the opposition and the international community to fully accept the supposed verdict of the people of Ethiopia.

The rally was also well-choreographed to condemn "foreign elements," especially Human Rights Watch, which had already dismissed the elections as fraudulent. "Behind an orderly façade, the government pressured, intimidated and threatened Ethiopian voters," said Rona Peligal, Human Rights Watch's acting Africa director. "Whatever the results, the most salient feature of this election was the months of repression preceding it."

Despite growing international uproar, Mr. Zenawi had a different take on the outcome of the "historic" elections. "As the whole world knows," he said, "the fourth national elections have taken place in a peaceful, democratic and credible manner. These elections have been conducted successfully according to plan," he declared.

His own hype notwithstanding, Mr. Zenawi has never managed to convince independent observers that elections have been free and fair since he came to power in 1991 after waging a bloody, 17-year-long guerrilla war to oust his predecessor dictator, Mengistu Haile Mariam.