The African Union (A.U.) has commented on the political situation in Ethiopia almost a week after a state of emergency was imposed by the government.
The A.U. Commission chair, Moussa Faki Mahamat, in a statement issued on Wednesday said he was following events closely. His statement stressed the importance of Ethiopia as host of the A.U. and a member state.
“As such, Ethiopia plays a key role in promoting regional peace and security, as well as in the pursuit of the continental agenda,” he added.
The statement failed to clearly mention the state of emergency which has been top of the diplomatic agenda. The United States said it strongly disagreed with it, whiles the E.U., U.K., Germany and others cautioned the authorities to exercise it with regard for rights of citizens.
The statement continued: “The Chairperson is confident in the ability of the Ethiopian authorities and people to overcome the challenges at hand and to consolidate the remarkable progress made in the socio-economic development of the country.
“Last month, he welcomed the steps taken by the Ethiopian authorities to widen the political and democratic space. He is encouraged by the Government’s willingness to persevere on this path.
“He stresses the need for all concerned stakeholders to display a spirit of responsibility and refrain from any acts likely to undermine peace and stability. These are precious public goods without which neither prosperity nor democracy is conceivable.”
He further tasked government to push ahead with reforms and with dialogue and mutual tolerance in order to deepen the democratic culture in the country. “The stability of Ethiopia is crucial for the well-being of its people, the region and Africa as a whole,” the statement concluded.
Foreign Affairs minister Workneh Gebeyehu defended the emergency rule citing growing insecurity across the country. Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigned his post in less than 24 hours to the government’s decision.
Desalegn announced widespread political reforms in January following which thousands of prisoners were released at the federal and regional levels. The country is also expected to close a prison facility notorious for torturing detainees. The Maekelawi jail in Addis Ababa is to be turned into a museum.
Will a power struggle within the ruling party lead to reform — or more repression?
BY TOM GARDNER |People protest against Ethiopian government during Irreecha, the annual Oromo festival to celebrates the end of the rainy season, in Bishoftu, on October 1, 2017. An Ethiopian religious festival transformed on Sunday into a rare moment of open defiance to the government one year after a stampede started by police killed dozens at the gathering. The Irreecha festival is held annually by the Oromos, Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, which in late 2015 began months of anti-government protests over claims of marginalisation and unfair land seizures. / AFP PHOTO / ZACHARIAS ABUBEKER (Photo credit should read ZACHARIAS ABUBEKER/AFP/Getty Images)
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — On the day that Bekele Gerba, a prominent Ethiopian opposition leader, was released from prison, thousands of people took to the streets in celebration. It was a scene unlike any other in Ethiopia over the last quarter century, during which the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) has kept a tight lid on dissent. On Feb. 13, jubilant crowds thronged into the streets and over soccer pitches, waving political flags and chanting Bekele’s name. Two days later, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn abruptly resigned. After nearly three years of sporadic anti-government protests, demonstrators in Ethiopia’s disaffected Oromia and Amhara regions finally appeared to have gained the upper hand. Then on Feb. 16, the tide seemed to turn against them once again, as the government announced the imposition of a national state of emergency, the second of its kind in as many years.
Bekele’s release was the culmination of a three-day standoff between the government, which had previously announced its intention to release some of its many thousands of political prisoners, and the protesters, who had grown impatient with the slow pace of the promised amnesties. For nearly a month, the wind has seemed to be at the protesters’ backs: More than 6,000 political prisoners have been freed since January, meeting one of the demonstrators’ most central demands. “Within a month, the political environment has completely changed,” says Hallelujah Lulie, a political consultant based in Addis Ababa.
But a newly announced state of emergency, which will mean federal troops patrolling towns across Oromia and a curfew in parts of the country for the next six months, threatens to stall momentum for reform.
Behind the drama of the last week lies a radical shift in Ethiopia’s political landscape, one that has the potential to lead to genuine reforms. The EPRDF, a coalition of four nominally ethnic parties that has ruled the country single-handedly since taking power in 1991, is in the midst of a vicious internal power struggle. At issue is the question of the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which has long been the dominant of the four ethnically based coalition partners, despite representing only a small minority of the country (Tigrayans make up about 6 percent of the population). Yet the influence of the TPLF is waning as two rival factions, the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO) and the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM) — which represent Ethiopia’s first- and second-most populous regions, respectively — vie with the TPLF for control over the coalition and, with it, the country.
The most remarkable changes have occurred within Oromia and the OPDO. In the early years of the protest movement, the OPDO — derided by critics as both a pliant tool of the TPLF and a den of corruption and incompetence — was a consistent target of popular anger in Ethiopia’s largest and most restive region. Local offices were burned and OPDO officials attacked. But since the appointment in late 2016 of a new regional president and party chairman, the young Lemma Megersa, the party has enjoyed an astonishing reversal of fortunes.
Under Lemma, the OPDO has reinvented itself as a quasi-opposition party, despite being part of the ruling coalition, and won the overwhelming support of activists at home and in the diaspora.
OPDO has reinvented itself as a quasi-opposition party, despite being part of the ruling coalition, and won the overwhelming support of activists at home and in the diaspora.
Lemma, meanwhile, has emerged as something of a cult icon in Oromia and even in parts of Amhara — where assertive Oromo ethnic nationalism is usually regarded warily — thanks to his stirring oratory and unusual candor in addressing the country’s predicament and his party’s flaws. In parts of Oromia, his face is emblazoned on taxis and buses. Songs, chants, and even prayers are dedicated to him.His administration has made significant steps toward reforming the party and the regional government. Thousands of local officials have been replaced. The revamped regional broadcaster, the Oromia Broadcasting Network, has been transformed from a government mouthpiece into an investigative watchdog, covering, among other things, land grabs, ethnic violence, and the release of Oromo political prisoners. The regional security forces seem to have changed some of the worst of their ways, too: Oromo police, once despised for beating up civilians, are now widely seen as allies in their political struggle, at times even posing for photos with protesters. The party has also launched a left-wing economic program, known as the “Oromo economic revolution,” involving land redistribution and higher taxes on foreign investors.
All this has put the OPDO on a collision course with some of its partners in the EPRDF, especially hard-line members of the TPLF. Partly in response to the newly assertive OPDO, the TPLF replaced its own leadership at the end of last year, elevating younger, supposedly reformist members to the executive committee in a bid to shore up its popular legitimacy while also healing long-standing internal divisions. Meanwhile, the ANDM — which in recent months has drawn closer to the OPDO as both seek to curb the TPLF’s dominance — meets this week and may also decide to purge its own ranks.
It is in this context — demonstrations on the street and endless bickering in the ruling coalition — that Hailemariam resigned. The move opens the door to a bitter succession battle. Most in Oromia believe it is time for Ethiopia to have an Oromo leader, and Lemma’s name is on many lips.
Most in Oromia believe it is time for Ethiopia to have an Oromo leader, and Lemma’s name is on many lips.
“The one thing he has is the acceptance of the country, especially in Oromia and Amhara,” says Seyoum Teshome, an academic and blogger based in Ethiopia. “The majority of the people in Oromia want it to be Lemma.”But for now, at least, that seems unlikely. Lemma is not yet a member of the national parliament (though this is not an insurmountable problem) and may not even have the unqualified support of his colleagues in the OPDO, which, like the EPRDF, is riven by factionalism. He would also have to win the acquiescence of the other coalition members, and many in the TPLF in particular might prefer a less divisive politician. In the last few days, eyes have turned toward Lemma’s deputy, Abiy Ahmed, as a possible alternative. Ahmed is a key power-broker in the party but lacks Lemma’s star power. A factor that could work against any OPDO candidate is the perception that the new administration has turned a blind eye to a worrying spate of attacks on non-Oromos living in the region.
Yet the pressure to appoint an Oromo prime minister is building, and expectations in the region are sky high. “The people want [the OPDO leadership] to move faster and be more decisive in their push,” Hassan Hussein, a Minneapolis-based academic and activist, says of Lemma and his colleagues. “The EPRDF made a huge error in 2012 by not appointing an Oromo prime minister. I hope they won’t commit the same error again. Luckily, if they did, it will be the last mistake they would make as a ruling party.”
An Oromo prime minister might do something to contain the anger of protesters, at least in Oromia. But it would not be the magic solution to the country’s woes. For now, the EPRDF, backed by powerful forces in the security apparatus, is still in charge, and the rising demand for more democracy shows little sign of abating.
“The demands of the protesters are legitimate and constitutional,” warns Hallelujah, the analyst. “They are not going to stop anytime soon.”
# Tom Gardner is the Ethiopia correspondent for the Economist. He also contributes to 1843, the Guardian, Thomson Reuters Foundation, and others.
A representative of the Ethiopia-based Semayawi (Blue) Party, Yeshiwas Assefa, told the Voice of America (VoA) last night that five Ethiopia based and 21 Diaspora-based political opposition & civic groups that met in Seattle, USA over the weekend under the banner of “Tibeber” (Cooperation) decided to call a “National Salvation Congress” in Ethiopia within a month.
All Ethiopian opposition and government parties are called to the Salvation meeting. Yeshiwas said the congress will be inviting all forces including the recently released honest opposition politicians and forces to discuss on a National Salvation of saving Ethiopia from impending destruction and then finally work towards a transition phase or government.
He said the transition discussion and phase should be “non-discriminatory.”
The meeting was organised by US based Ethiopian civic association.
Congressman Dana Rohrabacher tweeted on Wednesday morning, ‘Game Over TPLF.’ His tweet incidentally mentioned three people including a famed Ethiopian activist, Jawar Mohammed.
The other two were the Eritrean ambassador to Japan and one Neamin Zeleke, an expert on political and security ongoings in the Horn of Africa region. Rohrabacher represents the people of California’s 48th District. He is a known advocate on rights issues in Ethiopia.
The AFP correspondent for Ethiopia, Chris Stein, added that the Congressman had also issued an ultimatum for government to allow U.N. rights monitors entry to probe rights issues.
He added that Addis Ababa had till February 28 to allow the monitors or face a formal condemnation vote by the House of Representatives.
Ethiopia is currently under a state of emergency imposed hours after the resignation of Premier Hailemariam Desalegn. The ruling EPRDF of which the TPLF is a member will meet to decide his successor.
The measure, the second in under two years, has been criticised by foreign allies including the United States and the European Union. Other diplomatic missions have tasked the government to respect the rights of citizens whiles enforcing the measure.
BY ALEMAYEHU MARIAM OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 02/21/18
ALEMAYEHU MARIAM
Ethiopia teeters on the edge of a precipice. For the past two years, waves of defiant public protests have made the country ungovernable and posed an existential threat to the ruling party that has been in power since 1991.
The current crisis has roots in closure of political space, increasing repression and uncompromising one-party rule in the country. In the 2010 parliamentary election, the ruling party claimed 99.6 percent of the seats and 100 percent of the seats in 2015. In October 2016, regime forces used deadly force in which over a 1000 people were killed and tens of thousands detained by security forces. The regime blamed “anti-peace elements” and Diaspora-based Ethiopian opposition groups for the unrest.
The two largest ethnic groups — the Oromos and Amharas — feel marginalized, underrepresented and powerless. Ahmed Salim, VP at Teneo Global, explains:
“Much of the public anger stems from the fact that the Tigryan ethnic group, representing 6 percent of the population, control key business interests, hold senior level positions in government and the military, and own significant land at the expense of other ethnic groups.”
The regime has dealt with the unrest as a policing problem that requires quick suppression, which has resulted in deadly clashes with protestors and new cycles of anti-government protests and actions. To placate protesters, government authorities announced “anti-corruption reforms, cabinet reshuffles, a dialogue with handpicked opposition political parties, promised to create jobs for youth and pledged commitments youth job creation, and commitments to improve good governance.”
But the best laid plans of men went awry when Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn suddenly resigned last week. Desalegn’s resignation raised a few eyebrows but not alarm. He is generally regarded as a pawn of Ethiopia’s dominant party, the Tigrayan Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF). In July 2017 Desalegn himself said that in the prime minister’s office he often had to make decisions without adequate and firm information.In a televised statement, Desalegn said his resignation would lead to “lasting peace” and is “vital in the bid to carry out reforms that would lead to sustainable peace and democracy.” He declared “the public’s demands and questions should be met and answered”.
But what are the people’s demands and questions? The release of political prisoners is at the top of the least. More than 6,000 political prisonershave been freed since January even though thousands remain imprisoned.
The public’s demands and questions for freedom, democracy and human rights were definitively answered by a declaration of a six-month state of emergency the day after Desalegn’s resignation. The first state of emergency, which lasted 10 months ended in August 2017, did not end the wave of anti-government protests. Could this one be a precursor to a declaration of full martial law?
The U.S. issued a statement “strongly disagreeing with the Ethiopian government’s decision to impose a state of emergency that includes restrictions on fundamental rights” and urged the government to expand “the space for meaningful dialogue and political participation that can pave the way to a lasting democracy.” The European Union in a statementurged the new government to address the “grievances of the population” and stated “only a constructive dialogue among all stakeholders — authorities, opposition, media, civil society — will allow for a peaceful and durable resolution of the crisis.”
Can Ethiopia be saved from the edge of the precipice?
I believe Ethiopia is in the terminal stage of state failure. State failure is measured on a triple benchmark of representation, security, and attention to the welfare of citizens. A leading scholar argues a state that is unable to provide “positive political goods” to its people “loses legitimacy and, in the eyes and hearts of a growing plurality of its citizens, the nation-state itself becomes illegitimate.” Civil war has been a predictable outcome of state failure in Africa.
Ethiopia today is on the precipice of state failure and faces the abyss of interethnic civil war. The regime has no legitimacy in the eyes of much of the population.
It is possible to pull Ethiopia from the brink by an internationally mediated or broad-based national reconciliation process?
I recently proposed a reconciliation process utilizing traditional Ethiopian conflict resolution mechanisms which could produce a negotiated compromise for power sharing, a transitional government and free and fair new elections. I have cautioned against an externally imposed reconciliation which sidelines ordinary citizens to mere spectators.
That does not mean the U.S., or the U.N. could not mediate a reconciliation process.
Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa, is a U.S. partner in the U.S. global war on terrorism and has benefitted from U.S. aid. The U.S. has long sought to promote reconciliation in Ethiopia and would have wide acceptance among diverse stakeholders as a mediator. In 2006, then-Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Donald Yamamoto testifyingbefore Congress said:
“On numerous occasions, the Assistant Secretary sent me to Addis Ababa to work with the Ethiopian Government and opposition groups in support of U.S. Embassy efforts to encourage a reconciliation of differences between the opposition and the ruling parties, and to discuss ways to improve the political process with the Ethiopian government.”
Yamamoto is currently acting assistant secretary of State for African Affairs and is best suited for the job of mediation.
In December 2017, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State and ambassador Herman Cohen called for the start of a “reconciliation process” through broad public participation which includes “women, youth, the press” and other marginalized groups. Cohen was instrumental in facilitating the ruling regime to ascend to power in 1991.
Yamamoto and Cohen could coordinate an orderly transitional government for national reconciliation.
But time is running out for Ethiopia and the point of no return nears.
Alemayehu (Al) Mariam is a professor of political science at California State University, San Bernardino, with research interests in African law and human rights. He is a constitutional lawyer and senior editor of the International Journal of Ethiopian Studies.
Genzebe Dibaba in the 3000m at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016 (Getty Images)
Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba will contest the 1500m and 3000m at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Birmingham 2018 on March 1-4, 2018.
The 27-year-old has earned three world indoor titles, winning the 1500m in 2012 and the 3000m in 2014 and 2016. A slightly more forgiving schedule for this year’s edition – with the 3000m held as a straight final on Thursday night, followed by the 1500m heats on Friday and the 1500m final on Saturday – means Dibaba will double up for the first time at a World Indoor Championships.
Fellow defending 3000m champion Yomif Kejelcha has also been named on the team and will be joined by world indoor leader Selemon Barega.
Ethiopia has named three athletes in several events. Pending the conclusion of the IAAF World Indoor Tour, some may be eligible to compete as a wild card entrant or may simply be entered as a reserve.
ETHIOPIAN TEAM FOR BIRMINGHAM
Men 800m: Mohammed Aman 1500m: Samuel Tefera, Taresa Tolosa, Aman Wote 3000m: Selemon Barega, Hagos Gebrhiwet, Yomif Kejelcha
Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa and one which has seen a booming economy recently, has been shaken up in the past week.
The government is considering imposing a curfew as part of the state of emergency
First Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn unexpectedly resigned after five years in power.
Then a national state of emergency was declared the next day.
A statement by the state broadcaster said the move was necessary to stem a wave of anti-government protests.
Hundreds of people have died in three years of unrest, and this is the second time since 2016 that a state of emergency has been declared.
What does the state of emergency prevent?
Preparing, printing or circulating any information that could cause disturbance or suspicion
Displaying or publicising signs that could stir up violence
Protests and any form of group assembly
The halting of public services by anti-government protesters
The closing of businesses by anti-government protesters
The government also retains the freedom to shut down the media and impose a public curfew, details of which have not been released.
Under the conditions of the state of emergency, any person shutting down businesses or public services will face court action.
Why was a state of emergency declared?
Image copyrightREUTERSImage captionEthiopia has been hit by three years of protests
The government gave three key reasons:
To ensure peace and political stability
To respond to the resignation of the prime minister
To facilitate a peaceful transition of power
However, some analysts say the order lacks legal basis and that claims about instability are not true. Instead they view the state of emergency as a warning to those who might try and cause trouble when a new prime minister is appointed.
Local activists are worried that another government measure might be aimed at further quelling dissent.
In January, officials released more than 3,000 political activists and journalists from prison including opposition leaders Bekele Gerba, Merera Gudina and Andualem Arage.
Image captionOpposition leader Merera Gudina is the highest profile prisoner to have been released so far
But the authorities say the pardons are part of a move to create a national consensus and widen democratic participation.
The state of emergency, opponents say, contradicts that.
How has life changed since the state of emergency was announced?
For most people across Ethiopia, life is continuing as before. In the capital Addis Ababa, shops are open and people are going about their business as usual.
But in some areas of Amhara state, people are defying the authorities by closing their businesses and halting transport services.
The government reportedly responded by forcing residents to reopen their shops.
Similar disobedience has occurred in Oromia where large crowds have gathered to welcome the released prisoners.
In some cases, the crowds have chanted slogans against the ruling party, but have not faced reprisals.
Why did the prime minister resign?
The governing coalition, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), is extremely secretive and it is hard to know exactly what is going on.
But since coming to power, some in the political elite have accused Mr Hailemariam of being weak and lacking in leadership.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionHailemariam Desalegn had been Ethiopia’s prime minister since 2012
His resignation could be a move by the governing coalition to find a stronger leader, or it could signal divisions among the constituent parties along ethnic lines.
Particularly visible is the tension between the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which has seen its dominance and influence wane, and the Oromo People’s Democratic Organisation (OPDO), which is becoming increasingly assertive.
Replacing Mr Hailemariam with someone from the Oromo community might also be one way to meet the demands of Oromo protesters who have accused the authorities of marginalising them.
Ethiopia has never had an Oromo prime minister, even though they are the country’s largest ethnic group.
Lemmy Megersa, regional state president of Oromia and head of the OPDO, is among those hoping to become prime minister.
Other contenders include Debretsiyon Gebremikael of the TPLF, Demeke Makonnin from the Amhara National Democratic Movement and Werkineh Gebeyehu and Abiyi Ahimed of the OPDO.
All three parties are members of the governing EPRDF coalition.
Why are people protesting?
A number of grievances have driven popular protests throughout Ethiopia over the last three years:
Many Oromos say they have been politically, economically and culturally marginalised for years despite being the country’s largest group
Some in the Amhara community have also complained about the dominance of the small Tigrinya group
Opposition groups and human rights campaigners want the EPRDF to release its tight grip on power and allow them to operate freely
People across the country have complained about human rights violations including the imprisonment, torture and extrajudicial killing of political dissidents
Land grabs and displacing groups of people under the guise of development and investment without providing proper compensation – one trigger for the protests was a plan to expand the boundaries of the capital Addis Ababa into Oromia province, although that plan was later dropped
“Mathematics may not teach us how to add happiness or how to minus sadness. But it does teach one important thing. Every Problem has a solution”
(Anonymous)
“Ethiopia has a unique distinction in the universe for empowering those that were disempowered, for humanising those that were dehumanised, spiritualising those that were denied their right to worship God and inspiring and strengthening those oppressed to resist oppression”. Mammo Muchie
This is a humble and sincere call for all Ethiopians who are politically engaged to reach a consensus to make sure Ethiopia’s long and complicated political journey finally enters into a culture of dialogue where no matter how divisive and controversial the differences are, ways are found to address them with moral integrity, long term vision and for the benefit and dignity of all its citizens to be free at last and finally from any use of violence.
At the moment Ethiopia is experiencing contradictory political developments. The first development is the welcome action by the current Government and the ruling party to release all prisoners that were arrested before and after the first state of emergency. It was an encouraging news to hear the leaders from the ruling party acknowledging their own party’s mistakes and their readiness to correct mistakes of the past in order to move forward Ethiopia’s democratization processes. The second political development is that after the Prime Minister submitted a letter of resignation, the Government issued, surprisingly to many observers, a state of emergency for the second time. The contradictory nature of these political developments are self-evident and will not require any additional exposition. A second state of emergency will undoubtedly lead, among other things, to more arrests including the very individuals that have been just released.
The transition cannot be from one state of emergency to another state of emergency. The hoped and expected transition was to move away from militarism and a police state to a full-fledged civil governance system that will be believed and accepted as legitimate by all the citizens regardless of political and other differences. The key concept here is to create enduring legitimacy that requires the efforts of the government by doing actions that all can recognise and appreciate without viewing the good part of the recent actions taken by the Government and the ruling party as self-serving rather than done with honesty and integrity in the interest of the nation, Ethiopia. A real and promising transition is for all concerned Ethiopian parties to come together and address all the governance challenges that Ethiopia went through in its thousands years of history and memory with the view of shaping Ethiopia’s future by creating a governance system where all Ethiopians, however diverse they are, can agree that both the Government and governance system in place are legitimate. One of the acid tests for this legitimacy is that the nature of the governance system for the short term and the governmental structures and institutionalizations of the long term are a result of honest and consensus based negotiated outcomes rather than arm-twisting and divide and conquer ones. In short, whatever system might emerge from the negotiated national consensus, there can still be some disagreements, as disagreement even among well intentioned individuals is inevitable, and yet it is one of the many tasks of the consensus dialogue to bridge such differences.
We would like to propose to all concerned Ethiopians, both inside and outside of Ethiopia, Ethiopian citizens, friends and individuals of Ethiopian origin, to join together for a meeting to promote national consensus by agreeing to hold the Consensus Building Forum to help bridge the diverse and competing perspectives and interests that need to unlearn remaining and being in conflict and to re-learn by entering into a culture of dialogue for the sake of preserving Ethiopia to live on and on in the eternal river of time. The specific goal of the meeting is to help frame and build a National Legitimate CONSENSUS among the competing and conflicting parties of Ethiopia regarding governance in the short term, and government in the long term. The hope is that the consensus building process will produce a transformational and innovative road map that helps frame a governance system that is stable, peaceful, predictable, transparent, resilient, and sustainable entirely dedicated to deliver public service for the wellbeing of the Ethiopian people, the rest of Africa and the world. It is time that there is a transition to be delivered where the people live with optimism and confidence making Ethiopia once for all radiate moral energy, knowledge and values that will make all the people live together with unity and full Ethiopiawinet identity by removing ethnic division.
The modalities for working out the long term policy strategies should engage the following:
-The current nature and shape of government formation should be transparent from the negotiation efforts that is going on between the ruling party and all the alternative parties and oppositions in Ethiopia.
-All the opposition should be included with new approaches and strategies to bring the conflicting parties to enter into peaceful and sustainable dialogue culture to avoid ever again resorting to violence and military punitive clashes. Ethiopia should enter into the everlasting era of justice by making a paradigm shift from war, conflict and violence, to peace, reconciliation and dialogue always and ever from now on. There should be an agreement on this principle and value to change the dirty politics that kills to the clean politics that saves human life in Ethiopia always no matter what complications the social-economic journey creates.
-There should be facilitators to encourage conflict resolution to realise a proper and legitimate transition without taking a long time in doing the work to get all the stake holders to enter into true and real dialogue processes.
-There should be mediators from within Ethiopia and friends of Ethiopia and those that can contribute are encouraged to volunteer to propose their willingness to participate. The objective is for the mediators to have direct access and deliberations with all those who are currently very active in politics to make sure Ethiopia’s much urgent peaceful transition quest is realised.
-The Government must go for transition that empowers, enables and capacitates Ethiopia and all its people, and not a transition from the state of emergency to another state of emergency
– As peace making under the shadow of unwelcoming and threatening conditions would be considered compulsion by other name, we urge the government to rescind the STATE OF EMERGNECY WITHOUT CONSIDERING IT AS A PRECONDITION FOR THE CONSENSUS BULIDING CONFERENCE TO BE HELD.
Finally, all participants in this National Consensus Building Forum must have a commitment to help advance the interests of all parties for mutual gains and win-win outcomes for all regardless of any political differences.
Given that the conflict our country is facing has the potential for being protracted as well as intractable, we would like to impress upon all-from facilitators, mediators and the varied politicians from all sides the sense of urgency for this CONSENSUS BUILDING MEETING to take place the soonest as the old adage admonishes an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.
Sincerely, humbly and respectfully submitted by:
Mammo Muchie: DPhil and SARChI DST/NRF Rated Research Professor, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa, UoG and BDU, Ethiopia, Associate Faculty Professor, Sussex University, UK and TMDC, Oxford University, UK. Contact: mammo.muchie@gmail.com & www.sarchi-steid.org.za/ www.nesglobal.org www.africantalenthub.org & http://twitter.com/au_youth
and
Prof Berhanu Mengistu, Representing the Ethiopian Forum for Constructive Engagement,
The expectations of the Ethiopian people and the international community are set to accept and fully support either President Lemma Megersa or Dr. Abiy Ahmed as the next Chairman of the EPRDF and the Prime Minister of Ethiopia to lead the Ethiopian people and the country through transformative regime change.
This means the Ethiopian people and the international community trusts and supports the vetting process and the judgment of #TeamLemma in nominating either one of these two transformative and charismatic change leaders.
On the other hand, if the regime fails to nominate either one of these two candidates as the next Chairman of the EPRDF and the Prime Minister of Ethiopia opting for another surrogate and puppet candidate, even if that candidate is an Oromo, both the Ethiopian people and the international community are ready to reject the outcome, and the consequential decision of the regime will hasten the immediate collapse of the failing regime.
I think these two unambiguous stands and positions of the Ethiopian people and the international community should be clear to the regime, everyone involved and all the stakeholders.
Ethiopia’s Oromo People Democratic Organization (OPDO) has elected a new leader in the person of Dr. Abiy Ahmed, the Addis Standard portal reports.
The party’s 81-member Central Committee voted for the new changes on Thursday. The move is seen as a bid to position Ahmed as the next Prime Minister of the country.
He takes the post of OPDO Chairperson and replaces Lemma Megerssa the immediate past occupant of the role. Megerssa drops to the post of deputy OPDO chair but maintains his post as president of the Oromia region.
Breaking – The 81 member of the #OPDO Central Committee has just approved Dr. Abiy Ahmed as chairman of the party & Lemma Megerssa as deputy chairman. Lemma, who was both chairman of OPDO & President of Oromia region, will now be deputy chairman of the OPDO & Pres. of #Oromiapic.twitter.com/4XgoMit1Ki
Dr. Abiy Ahmed, formerly the minister of Science & Technology, has moved to become deputy chairman of the #OPDO, one of the parties that make up the ruling #EPRDF, and head of its secretariat under the new leadership of Lemma Megerssa (seen below). pic.twitter.com/4pH20ftNMG
Dr. Abiy Ahmed’s appointment as chairman of the OPDO came after the party’s 15 member executive committee, led by Lemma Megeressa, reached at a consensus on Monday this week to replace him as the chairman, the Addis Standard added.
The post of Prime Minister became vacant after the resignation a week ago of PM Hailemariam Desalegn. The ruling Ethiopia Peoples Democratic Front (EPRDF) is expected to go to congress to elect Desalegn’s successor. He is continuing in the role till congress decides.
The four parties under the EPRDF include the OPDO, the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement (SEPDM).
Desalegn belonged to the SEPDM whiles the late PM Meles Zenawi belonged to the TPLF. The coalition holds 100% seats of the parliament. The country is due to return to the polls in 2020.
State television says government has shed more light on six-month state of emergency order issued last Friday.
Police officers patrol along a road in Addis Ababa [Tiksa Negeri/Reuters]
Ethiopia has released new details about the six-month state of emergency ordered last week amid mass anti-government protests, according to state media reports.
Siraj Fegessa, minister of defence and head of the command post charged with implementing the state of emergency order, announced the details on Wednesday, state broadcasters FANA Television and EBC said.
Fegessa unveiled the order last Friday, a day after Hailemariam Desalegn abruptly resigned as prime minister and head of the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition.
“The government has previously made several efforts to curtail violence, but lives have continued to be lost, many have been displaced and economic infrastructure has been damaged,” Fegessa said, as quoted by Reuters news agency.
But at the time, few details were released about how the state of emergency – the second in Ethiopia since 2016 – would function.
The order comes amid widespread anti-government protests calling for more political inclusion, the release of political prisoners and an end to human rights abuses.
According to FANA TV, the state of emergency prohibits:
Violating Ethiopia’s constitution or “constitutional order”
Supporting or having links to “terrorist” organisations
Holding unauthorised demonstrations and meetings
Promoting a political agenda
Issuing statements on security issues without Command Post permission
Obstructing public transportation services
Attacking infrastructure or development institutions
Blocking the work of law enforcement officials
Having firearms in a public area
Hampering the functioning of schools
Striking at sports fields
Impeding cultural, public and religious festivals
It also includes prohibitions on poorly defined activities, such as any action that may “erode tolerance and unity”, or “affect the peace and wellbeing” of people in Ethiopia.
The order bars anyone from carrying weapons in “unauthorised regions”, but those regions are not specified, FANA reported.
Earlier, the broadcaster said the state of emergency would also give law enforcement officers the power to detain anyone suspected of violating “the constitutional order”.
They would also have the ability to search houses, cars and individuals, all without a court warrant.
The government is expected to deliver the state of emergency decree to parliament for ratification within 15 days from last Friday.
Amidst the news of the resignation of Prime Minister Hailemariam, the declaration of state of emergency, and the percolating conversation that preoccupied Ethiopians on who should be the next prime minister, I am concerned if we are losing sight of Ethiopian people’s demand for change. Some of the conversations taking place on social media, discussion forums and opinions expressed on various web portals are the sources for this concern.
The concern I am about to express may not be shared by all. However, I would like to offer a few examples in the hope that those who are less concerned would be convinced. The premise for my concern is how well do we understand TPLF and its manoeuvers to keep change-demanding voices fractured?How well do we understand TPLF’s propaganda scheme that attempts, and in some cases succeeds, in keeping its critics divided?
TPLF has invested incalculable resources to make sure that the day will never come for those critical voices to come together and see TPLF, in unison, as the primary and only problem in Ethiopia. It will be shocking for some, when I say that TPLF, in the last twenty-six years, had chances to dictate what its critics, inside and outside the country, think are important issues. TPLF has managed to implant some of the talking points oppositions and activists think that it is theirs. TPLF has often controlled the general narrative of critical voices, and provide the exact linguistic tools to keep them fractured. As outrageous as my claims sound, here are a few examples.
Take for example the recent commotion between some Amhara and Oromo discussants and the conversations taking place on their respective social media and political forums. What is circulating on social media is news about Oromo youth (kerro) going around various towns in the Oromo region, defacing billboards and signposts with Amharic writings. Some Ethiopians believe this contradicts what was said before in the spirit of cooperation between the people from these two regions. Some have gone to the extent of interpreting this as an act against Amharas.
The act is surely designed to give the impression that Amharic and, by implication, Amharas are not welcome in Oromia. But let us consider the following in context with what is transpiring in the country. As we speak, there are at least half a million Oromos displaced in their own country. Most of the Ethiopian political leaders and activists from the Oromo region, who just left TPLF’s prison cells, are reiterating, daily, that all Ethiopians, and especially Ethiopians from different parts of the country who are residing in Oromia, should be protected. The Oromo people know that TPLF has murdered and imprisoned thousands of its people. The Oromo people know that the struggle they are waging is against TPLF, and they have confirmed this numerous time. We have heard the voices of Amhara and Oromo youth in unison demanding regime change, directed particularly at TPLF. This is the current situation in the country.
Yet, the conversations and discussions on social media entice distrust and doubt between Ethiopians. The question we should ask, at this very moment, regarding this fiasco campaign of defacing signs with Amharic writings, is who benefits from creating suspicion and mistrust among Ethiopians.
Based on the intended message of the act, even if we entertain the idea that there is a “conspiracy by Oromo youth to rid of Amharas from Oromia,” it is very difficult to make sense out of it. At a time when TPLF is standing on one jittery leg, couldn’t the Oromo youth find one bright mind to say, “the conspiracy can wait till we get rid of this regime”? While TPLF is still murdering Ethiopians in the Oromo region, is it difficult to understand a simple logic that the real youth (Kerro) do not have time to search for signs with Amharic writings, let alone to deface them?
Defacing signs with Amharic writings is surely the brainchild of TPLF. And surely it has captured the attention of many. TPLF’s design will be complete if it results in division and suspicion among Ethiopians. Perhaps we have to learn to calmly study news that come from the frontline, so to speak, before joining TPLF-engineered conversations designed to promote suspicion, mistrust, doubt, and division among Ethiopians.
Here is another example. The “who should be the next prime minister?” is one of the recent talking points conceived by TPLF. And there was no shortage of participants in the conversation, to the delight of TPLF. TPLF succeeded in implanting a collective amnesia on all participants that it is, and only TPLF is, the chief architecture of power in Ethiopia. The predictions who will be the next prime minister and the expressions of preference for this or that political figure as a candidate for the next leadership is designed to castrate the movement waged by Ethiopians that demands for total political changes. It helps TPLF conceal the fact that EPRDF, as the only begotten child of TPLF, is a nursling that is forbidden from developing into adulthood. It covers the fact that EPDRF is an organization that depends on suckling TPLF’s breast for its existence. What TPLF succeeded through these discussions is planting the nothing-burger narrative that political change will come if a suckling of TPLF gets donned with the Prime-Ministerial Robe. Investing time and effort to study, analyse and discuss the possibility that a leader from the Amhara region, the Oromo region, or any region under EPDRF; or pointing at this or that official in the EPDRF rank and file, as a potential candidate for the Prime Minister-ship, is forgetting that they are all children of TPLF. No change will come through EPDRF!
TPLF’s charades of manipulating public opinion by leaking “confidential information” to media sources that a leader is elected in ‘secret meetings’ is also designed to arrest the movement of change that is currently swarming the country. Why the charades? Because TPLF hopes that Ethiopians take these ‘leaked news’ seriously and lose sight of the core problem — TPLF. Most importantly, however, TPLF hopes Ethiopians will forget, even if it is for a short while, the fact that TPLF has done whatever it wants, for the last twenty-six years, with impunity. The leaks are nothing more than tools of gaging public opinion, conditioning the public, and fuming the discussion that has already made all of us forget the relationship between EPDRF and TPLF, that they are one and the same.
Let me explore one more example. Recently, there were discussions on the topic: “is there a superiority of Tigrayans in Ethiopia?” The heated discussions on the topic had taken both TPLF media outlets and the opposition camps inside the country and among Ethiopians in the diaspora. While the resounding yes to the question causes distress to the naïve Tigrayans whose sources of information are only TPLF outlets, the resounding no from the TPLF/EPDRF mouthpieces had caused pandemonium among all Ethiopians, and legitimately so.
What really happened, in this indirectly TPLF controlled debate, is the circumvention of the more accurate question “is there a superiority of TPLF in Ethiopia?” If we were to ask this question, it would expose that EPDRF and its foot soldiers are domestics in TPLF’s Household. It would uncover the false,TPLF’s most prized, narratives, that TPLF means all Tigrayans under the sun and TPLF is just another party to the coalition EPDRF.
In addition, the denial of the domination enrages those who suffer under the tyranny of TPLF (those who are being murdered, incarcerated, displaced) because answering no to the obvious question “is there a superiority of Tigrayans in Ethiopia?” is an insult to injury. But what is unsaid, hidden, in the question itself is the evasion of the real question “is there a superiority of TPLF in Ethiopia?” T
The former question is formulated in such a way that it implies, the people of Tigray in general, as the culprits. It is not concealed from Ethiopians that TPLF is the one that pulls the wires in the country; but these types of narratives give TPLF air to stay afloat because TPLF can point to the people of Tigray and Ethiopians and say, “look, this is a targeted attack against a specific ethnic,” with yet another hidden message that equates TPLF with every Tigrayan on Earth. It enables TPLF to hide behind the people of Tigray, all the while, continuing what it does best, more killing, more incarceration, more oppression of Ethiopians, and of course, with the help of their cronies who happened to be mostly from Tigray.
In addition, listening to TPLF mouthpieces saying ‘no, there is no Tigrayan domination’ blackmails those who are suffering under TPLF to react in desperate ways. To make sure their voices are heard, those who are on the receiving end of TPLF’s atrocities are pushed to the brinks of hopelessness. This TPLF-invented talking point and the insulting denial, pushes them to resort to extreme expressions of resistance. In their struggle to free themselves from TPLF’s tyranny, the desperate reactions from those Ethiopians in the Amhara, Oromo, Southern Nations, Afar and Somali regions are what TPLF is after. Because those reactions, in turn, will create another opportunity for TPLF to control and set the next round of talking points.
The next round of talking points come in the form TPLF-made slogans: violent demonstrations, distraction of properties, ethnic based violence, Tigrayan business being targeted because of who they are, and so on. These slogans were used as the preamble for the declaration of the state of emergency. Diplomats, residing in the country, are also forced to repeat them even during their most pungent admonitions of TPLF and its state of emergency regime. At face value, these phrases obviously depict undesirable acts and therefore easy to gather sympathetic ears in condemning violence.
TPLF, through these slogans, may also be successful in suppressing the history of Ethiopians that ranks them among the very few societies in the world with unparalleled tolerance to ethnic and religious differences. TPLF is hoping (using these slogans) to shame Ethiopians, hoping that it will be too difficult for Ethiopians suffering under its tyranny to justify their actions after blackmailing them into resorting to these forms of resistance. These slogans are introduced by TPLF to achieve only one goal; they are designed to provide oxygen to TPLF, especially at a time when TPLF’s oxygen tank is dwindling.
For those of you who paid close attention in the initial announcemnt of the state of emergency, the language used has all the hints. “to protect the rights of Ethiopians who wishes to undertake any business endeavour in any part of the country and to protect their rights to prosper by doing so” were the words used as the premise for the declaration. Apparently, this is far from the present demands of the Ethiopian people. But TPLF has to protect its own, and therefore, a state of emergency to satisfy its base.
These are few indicators that might convince those who may not share my concern. I hope this writing will contribute for further conversations on how TPLF keeps critical voice hashed, oppositions fractured, and the outside world confused, as part of the many strategies TPLF deploys to remain in power. Whenever two Ethiopian opposition groups are locked in argument, whether “Lema Megersa of Gedu Andargatchew” is the better candidate as the next Prime minster, both are participating in TPLF-designed fruitless debate. When these opposition political groups stop, even for a moment, informing the Ethiopian people, their constituencies, that TPLF, and by extension EPDRF, is the main culprit that is working hard to push Ethiopians and Ethiopia over the cliff, TPLF gets a chance to gasp for air.
Unless there is awareness among all Ethiopians (political, religious and civic organizations) in considering TPLF as the singular obstacle for all problems Ethiopian; unless there is a common understanding that all efforts should be directed towards freeing Ethiopia from TPLF grips; unless there is an understanding that any reconciliation effort among Ethiopian political and civic organizations requires the examination and understanding of TPLF’s modus operandi; unless there is an understanding that EPDRF is another name for TPLF; and unless we free ourselves from TPLF catered talking points and its subliminal messages, it would be really challenging to achieve a cohesive movement that will shorten the life of TPLF.
I admit, there are ways of taking advantages of a fractured EPDRF to hasten the fall of TPLF. But only in the event real fracture materializes and the benefits of exploiting such splinters become clear to Ethiopians. Until that time, all Ethiopians must remain focused on the main perpetrator, TPLF and its appendage EPDRF. I might add, those days, where the cracks within EPDRF open wide, may be coming faster that we expect. Yet, we have to wait for those days patiently.
Will the appointment of a new Ethiopian prime minister only act to save the ruling party, or usher in deeper reform?
by Jillian Kestler-D’Amours
Mass anti-government protests have taken place in Ethiopia’s most populous regions [Tiksa Negeri/Reuters]
Hailemariam Desalegn’s snap resignation as Ethiopia’s prime minister last week set off a dramatic chain of events in a country that has seen mass, anti-government protests for several years.
A state of emergency order soon followed the announcement, plunging Ethiopia even further into a state of political uncertainty.
As it prepares to replace Hailemariam as the head of the party, the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) has been buying time to figure out its next move,
In a country where the chairman of the ruling coalition has historically also taken on prime minister duties, questions continue to swirl around who could step in for Hailemariam.
But any successor will have a difficult task ahead, and appointing a new prime minister will likely not be enough to satisfy Ethiopians’ demands for greater political reforms.
“A change of guard is not what the people want,” said Tsedale Lemma, editor-in-chief of the Addis Standard newspaper.
Instead, Ethiopians are demanding “a fundamental change” in the way the country is governed that would allow all interests to be heard and represented, she explained.
“As a country, this is not going to make so much of a difference. EPRDF is EPRDF,” she said.
“The people of Ethiopia are not requiring a change of guard, they are requiring an overall change of the government – a dynamic change, a fundamental change, [to] the way the EPRDF is considered so far.”
Oromo candidates
The decision over who will succeed Hailemariam is “vitally important”, said Hassen Hussein, a writer and Ethiopia analyst based in the United States.
He said it “could either [present] a narrow path away from the precipice, or lead [Ethiopia] right into it”.
Hailemariam, who came to power after the death of his predecessor, Meles Zenawi in 2012, said he will stay on as a caretaker prime minister until a replacement is named.
But since “the engine of the protest movement” has been the marginalisation of the country’s largest ethno-national group, the Oromo, Hussein said that not appointing an Oromo would have a devastating effect.
“If somebody from another [ethnic] group is installed, I think people will interpret that as, ‘Well, there you go again.’ It will be deja vu,” he told Al Jazeera.
Mass anti-government protests have been ongoing in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, home to the Oromo, since 2015.
The Oromo, who make up more than 34 percent of the population, have long complained about political and economic exclusion. One of the protesters’ central demands has been for greater political representation at the national level.
The EPRDF is composed of four political parties, mainly divided along ethnic lines: the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), the Oromo Peoples’ Democratic Organisation (OPDO) and the Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement (SEPDM).
The most prominent Oromo names being discussed to become prime minister are Lemma Megersa, president of the Oromia regional government, and his vice president, Abiy Ahmed, a leading figure in the OPDO.
On Thursday, the 81-member OPDO central committee named Ahmed as the new chairman of the party, taking over from Megersa, who will now serve as deputy chairman, the Addis Standard newspaper reported.
The move has been interpreted to mean that Ahmed will be the party’s candidate for prime minister.
Terrence Lyons, an associate professor at the School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University in the US, said if someone like Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen, who is Amhara, is chosen instead, that could “add further fuel to the fire of the Oromo protests”.
A divided coalition
Lyons told Al Jazeera the appointment of the next prime minister is most important, however, for what it will say about what is happening inside the ruling party, which controls all 547 seats in Ethiopia’s parliament and has been in power since 1991.
That year, the EPRDF – originally formed as a collection of rebel groups fighting in a decades-long civil war – overthrew a government headed by Mengistu Haile Mariam.
Meles, the former EPRDF chairman and prime minister, was in charge during a transitional period in the early 1990s, before being formally elected in 1995 as prime minister.
Hailemariam was “a useful placeholder” for the EPRDF after Meles’s death, Lyons said.
WATCH: Ethiopia’s state of emergency to last six months
He said the political system the EPRDF brought into force was “very centralised, very hierarchical [and] decisions were made at the top and communicated down to the grassroots”.
But paradoxically, the coalition also granted local decision-making power and autonomy to newly formed regional governments, which were once again largely divided along ethnic lines.
“The regional states controlled courts and universities and radio stations and bureaus of agriculture and water and so forth, and so the political life began to become decentralised,” Lyons explained.
“This kind of contradiction between centralising and decentralising [power] was always there, it was always going to be a problem, and now we’re seeing it.”
The process
Many of the protesters have also complained in recent years about what they see as the disproportionate power wielded by the Tigrayan party within the coalition.
The TPLF has dominated the ruling coalition from the outset – Meles previously headed both the TPLF and the EPRDF – despite the fact that Tigrayan people constitute only six percent of Ethiopia’s more than 100 million citizens.
Both prime ministers since the party took power in 1991, Hailemariam and Meles, also chaired the coalition.
“Whoever is chairing the EPRDF has traditionally been the prime minister,” Lemma said.
“This makes reforming the [political system] nearly impossible because party and government are one and the same and this is really what the Ethiopian people are fed up with, this blurred line.”
The 180-member EPRDF council is expected to meet within the next week to choose a new leader, Hussein said, and that leader would then either be confirmed by parliament as Ethiopia’s next prime minister, or have to propose someone else.
The EPRDF council is also expected to meet by early March to decide whether to formally accept Hailemariam’s resignation, Getachew Reda, a member of the body’s executive committee, recently told Bloomberg.
Any candidate for prime minister must be a member of Ethiopia’s parliament.
However, Getachew told Bloomberg that a candidate not currently sitting in parliament, like Oromo leader Megersa, could possibly be brought in after winning a special by-election.
Hailemariam 2.0
Making the new chair of the Oromo party, Ahmed, the next prime minister “would be historic”, said Mohammed Ademo, founder and editor of OPride.com, an independent news website on Ethiopia.
“They could make history here by electing an Oromo for the first time and electing someone with a Muslim background,” Ademo told Al Jazeera.
It would also showcase Ethiopia’s religious diversity, insomuch as the country has historically been known as a “Christian island in a sea of Muslims”, Ademo said.
The Oromo protests were preceded by widespread protests among Muslim Ethiopians – who make up about 30 percent of the population – in 2011 and 2012. They were angered by alleged state interference in their religious affairs. Several prominent Muslim leaders were arrested at the time.
“I’m hopeful that the ruling coalition will make the right choice. I’m hopeful that they will see to it that the people … have a voice,” Ademo said.
For her part, the Addis Standard’s Lemma questioned how any new leader would be able to implement genuine reforms when Ethiopia remains strongly dominated by the security apparatus and business interests.
“How is [somebody] going to be an independent prime minister? He is going to be Hailemariam 2.0,” Lemma said.
She added that the government should allow opposition parties to participate in a snap election to establish a transitional government ahead of a scheduled vote in 2020, or launch an inclusive, national dialogue.
Both measures would show that “the government is willing [to see] a genuine change”, she said.
Opposition parties have been kept out of the Ethiopian parliament for decades and the government has used anti-terrorism legislation to arrest and detain several prominent opposition leaders.
“It would give a [sense of] relief to the Ethiopian people, knowing that the people that they want to represent them, are representing them in the government. That kind of transitional government would save this party from collapse and hence the government at the same time,” Lemma said.
But if the government only changes the person at the top, “it will be a matter of when – and not if – the Ethiopian people revolt again”.
Family and rights group demand release of a Canadian citizen imprisoned in Ethiopia for alleged ‘terrorist crimes’.
by David Child
Canadian Bashir Makhtal, 49, has been imprisoned in Ethiopia since January 2007 on charges of ‘terrorism’ [Courtesy: Amnesty]
A Canadian family is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to negotiate the release of a citizen imprisoned in Ethiopia saying “there will never be a better time than now to get him home”.
Canadian Bashir Makhtal, 49, has been imprisoned in Ethiopia since January 2007 on charges of “terrorism”.
Authorities in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, accuse Makhtal of being a ringleader for the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) – a rebel group pressing for self-rule in Ethiopia’s eastern Ogaden region – and he was sentenced to life in prison.
Ethiopia classifies the ONLF as a “terrorist” organisation.
Makhtal, whose grandfather was a founding member of the ONLF, has always declared himself innocent, saying he was in the region to promote his clothing business.
Asiso Abdi, Makhtal’s wife, told Al Jazeera that Ethiopian authorities could be persuaded to include Bashir among those freed, if Canada applies adequate diplomatic pressure.
“If the government of Justin Trudeau is willing to get Bashir home, there will never be a better time than now,” Abdi said. “When there is a life, there is a hope.”
Canadian officials say they are exploring every possible option to bring Makhtal back to Canada.
Omar Alghabra, parliamentary secretary to Canada’s minister of foreign affairs, met Makhtal during a diplomatic visit to Ethiopia in April 2017.
Negotiating Makhtal’s release is a priority for the Canadian government, he told Al Jazeera.
“Our objective is to see this happen as soon as we can… At every opportunity, the discussion with Ethiopian officials regarding Mr Makhtal happens,” Alghabra said.
“[But] these conversations are not easy… The Ethiopian government see him as someone who has been convicted and is serving a sentence.”
Despite mounting diplomatic pressure, Ethiopian officials continue to deny Makhtal is a political prisoner and block his release from jail.
Metasebia Tadesse, Ethiopia’s ambassador to Qatar, told Al Jazeera recent prisoner releases were specifically intended to “create a broader political space within the country”, and will not affect Makhtal’s status.
“Bashir Makhtal is not an Ethiopian, he is imprisoned due to the terrorist crimes he committed,” Tadesse said. “One cannot mix his case with the current measures taken by the Ethiopian government.”
When questioned, Tadesse refused to provide Al Jazeera with further details regarding the nature of the “terrorist crimes”.
‘An unfair trial’
Rights group Amnesty International said Makhtal has been held unfairly.
“Once charges were laid against Makhtal we pressed for him to be provided with a fair trial and an opportunity to mount an effective defence, such as by having full access to allegations, evidence and witnesses against him,” Alex Neve, secretary-general of Amnesty International in Canada, told Al Jazeera.
“That was not the case, nor was his appeal hearing a fair process,” Neve said.
Lorne Waldman, Makhtal’s Canada-based lawyer, told Al Jazeera that Ethiopia had subjected his client to a number of extrajudicial measures: including an illegal extradition and torture.
“Bashir’s version of events has been the same since the beginning, that he was in Somalia doing business … [and] when there was the [Ethiopian] military incursion into Somalia he, like thousands of others, fled to the Kenyan border,” Waldman said.
“He was detained at the border and taken into custody in Nairobi, and from Nairobi he was illegally spirited on a private plane to Ethiopia without any formal extradition proceedings,” he added.
“Then he was tortured and charged under the anti-terrorism provisions in Ethiopia, before being prosecuted in what people generally felt was an unfair trial, convicted and sentenced to life in prison.”
Extraordinary rendition
Amnesty said Makhtal’s transfer to Ethiopia was “tantamount to an instance of extraordinary rendition”, adding it was “very likely” he had been subjected to torture or other forms of cruel treatment in Ethiopia.
The prevalence of torture in Ethiopia – described as a “major problem” in Human Rights Watch’s 2018 report – and Makhtal being held incommunicado at the beginning of his detention support Amnesty’s concerns regarding mistreatment, Neve said.
Authorities in Ethiopia did not acknowledge they had imprisoned Makhtal until July 2007, six months after his arrival in Addis Ababa, his relatives told Al Jazeera.
Nearly 11 years later, Makhtal’s family still has little clarity about whether Ethiopia will release him.
Some 12,000km away from his prison cell in Ethiopia, Makhtal’s absence in Canada continues to be felt every day, Abdi told Al Jazeera.
“They took my husband and with him my future happiness,” she said.
“I have already missed 11 wedding anniversaries with him, 11 years of my life have gone. I’m missing a half of me deep inside the dark cell of an Ethiopian prison.”
NAIROBI (REUTERS) – Ethiopia has released more than 1,500 prisoners in its eastern Somali region, government officials said on social media, days after the government declared a state of emergency to try to tamp down unrest in Africa’s second most populous nation.
“On Wednesday, over 1,500 prisoners were released following a pardon by President Abdi Mohammed Omer,” the Somali Region’s communications bureau said on Facebook late on Wednesday, referring to the regional president.
“The inmates had been jailed on charges that include anti-peace activities,” it added, without giving details.
Ethiopia has already released more than 6,000 prisoners since January, including some high-profile journalists and opposition leaders. They were charged with a variety of offences, including terrorism.
Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said the releases were designed to increase “political space” in Ethiopia following anti-government protests that began in 2015.
Hundreds of people were killed during two years of protests that convulsed the country’s two most populous provinces, whose ethnic Oromo and Amharic communities complain they are under-represented in the country’s corridors of power.
Friday’s declaration of a six-month-long state of emergency followed Hailemariam’s surprise resignation on Thursday. He remains in office, overseeing the region’s biggest economy, until a new prime minister is appointed.
The government previously imposed a state of emergency in October 2016, which was lifted in August 2017. During that time, curfews were in place, movement was restricted and about 29,000 people were detained. It’s unclear how many remain in prison.
(Writing by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Toby Chopra)
No change of top leadership within ANDM as Demeke Mekonnen and Gedu Andargachew remain as chairman and deputy of the party; Getachew Ambaye, minister of Justice, replaced Ambassador Kassa Teklebirhan and joined ANDM’s executive committee
Addis Standard staffs
Addis Abeba, February 23/2018 – The much anticipated meeting of the Council of Ethiopia’s ruling party, EPRDF, will begin on Thursday March 01/2018 and will take place for three consecutive days until Saturday March 03/2018, a source with knowledge to the matter told Addis Standard.
EPRDF’s Council has 180 members comprised of 45 members each from the four major parties that make up the EPRDF: the Oromo Peoples’ Democratic Organization (OPDO), the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), the Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement (SEPDM), and the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
According to our source, the meeting is expected to discuss three outstanding issues. They are, in order of appearance: evaluating the party’s six months performance report; approving the resignation of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn; and finally electing a new party chairman and a prime minister to replace the outgoing PM.
However, the Council’s meeting will be preceded by a meeting of EPRDF’s powerful bloc of 36, the executive committee, which has nine members each from the four parties that make up the party, between Monday and Wednesday next week.
Although the announcement of election of the new chairman and the prime minister (a position traditionally been held by the same person), is one that’s eagerly awaited at the end of the Council’s meeting, much of what would happen during the Council’s three days meeting will be mapped out during the executive’s meeting between Monday and Wednesday, according to our source said.
The Council’s meeting, including the election of the chairman and the prime minister, will take place soon after the end on Wednesday of the executive’s meeting.
According to the party’s doctrine, the 180 members of the council will be first asked to nominate their own choices of candidates. Among the nominees, those who will secure 1/3rd of the council’s vote will be qualified as candidates for whom the members of the council will be casting their votes in a secrete ballot.
Except for the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), all the three parties are expected to field their respective nominates.
During the last several weeks, the executive and the central committees of each parties have been conducting their own meetings in what the parties told their constituencies were meetings aimed at bringing about reforms, including leadership reshuffles. TPLF was the first to have finalized its meetings with major reshuffles both in the leadership and its executives.
Yesterday, the 81 members of the OPDO Central Committee have announced a reshuffle within the party that saw the position of the party’s chairman move from the Oromia region’s president, Lemma Megerssa, to the his vice president and party secretariat, Dr. Abiy Ahmed. Many consider the move as OPDO’s calculated move to field Dr. Abiy, who is a member of parliament, as potential candidate of the party for the position. Currently Lemma Megerssa is not a member of parliament, which disqualifies him from becoming the country’s prime minister.
This morning, a statement published on the ANDM’s Facebook and Twitter pages said the party’s executive and central committee have completed their weeks long meeting last night. The party said a statement will be issued on the decision of the meeting.
However, another source told Addis Standard that as per the information until last night, the central committee has not changed or reshuffled the current leadership of the party. Currently, Demeke Mekonnen, also the deputy prime minister of the country, is the chairman of ANDM while Gedu Andargachew is the deputy chairman and the president of the Amhara regional state, the state ANDM is government.
The third party, the Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement (SEPDM), the party from which Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigned as chairman simultaneously when he resigned from his post as chairman of EPRDF and Prime Minister, is expected to complete its central committee meeting early next week, “most likely by Tuesday”, a member the committee told Addis Standard . However, the party seemed to have been consumed by a rift between those who insist in assigning an SEPDM member to fill the vacant position of the outgoing PM, and those who insist on a fresh start. “One of these two groups is going to win the debate,” our source said. Commenting on the proceeds of the council’s meeting, our source said, “if all goes as planned, we may know who the next prime minister will be as early as Friday or Saturday March o2 or 03.”
Ethiopian politics is going through one of the most unpredictable crisis following a succession of nail biting events since the last one week. On Thursday February 15, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said he was resigning from his role as both Prime Minister and Chairman of Ethiopia’s ruling party EPRDF, as well as his position as chairman of his own party, the Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement (SEPDM). The executive committee of both the EPRDF and SEPDM have quickly accepted the resignation, leaving the final and binding decision to the 180 strong members of EPRDF’s Council.
The news of the Prime Minister’s resignation was followed quickly by a decision on Friday by the council of ministers to impose yet another six months nationwide state of emergency and establish a military command post to oversee the emergency decree. On Wednesday this week, Siraj Fegessa, minister of defense, outlined details of the state of emergency, including restrictions on unauthorized public gatherings and a gag on regional authorities from discussing security issues of their respective regions with media without the permission of the command post, established to oversee the state of emergency’s implementation and is led by Siraj himself. Unlike the 2016 -17 SoE, the fresh decree also restricted citizens from speaking to the media criticizing its provisions and implementations.
“Police state is a term denoting a government that exercises power arbitrarily through the power of the police force.” The term has now morphed and “taken on an emotional and derogatory meaning” by describing an undesirable” state and government that murders citizens with impunity. Wikipedia
From the Imperial period of Emperor Haile Selassie to the present, elites have dominated politics and the commanding heights of the economy at the expense of citizens and the common good. This political and economic capture by elites is more pronounced and exclusionary today than at any time in Ethiopia’s history.
Ethiopia’s seemingly intractable problem is therefore the lack of social, political, economic and spiritual space that would empower ordinary Ethiopian citizens to fulfil their potential. The only way out of this cycle of elite capture for the benefit of elites is a transition towards a democratic state and government.
Elites maintain their political and economic monopoly by asserting the notion that defending and preserving the constitutional order by any means necessary is vital for peace and stability and for sustaining socioeconomic growth and development. Instruments they deploy to maintain the status quo ante include ethnic division, the propagation of fear along ethnic lines, terrorism etc. Behind this narrative is fear of losing political and economic dominance by elites for elites; and the lack of confidence in preserving economic and financial gains made under the system. Resistance to fundamental change emanates from this fear of potential loss.
Sadly, the governing party and the opposition have failed to establish an institutional mechanism to alleviate fear and to promote mutual confidence among all stakeholders.
By segmenting the population into ethnic and religious silos, the global media echoes the narrative of the governing party that ethnic and religious divisions are “irreconcilable.” Little if any attention is given to the notion this narrative is being shattered on the ground by Ethiopia’s youth population that embraces Ethiopia’s mosaic and diversity as a strategic national asset; is bridging relations among people; and is sacrificing in lives and livelihoods to achieve a democratic system.
I am among Al-Jazeera’s genuine admirers. It offers the global community, especially the Arab and African world a different and diverse perspective. A few years ago, Al-Jazeera invited me to an African-Arab forum in Doha, Qatar, where frank and open discussions on cooperation and development took place with the benefit of analytical research from experts. This is a pioneering example of the future and the role of Africans and Arabs in shaping their own future. I commend Al-Jazeera for this type of innovative work; and urge it to bring hold a similar forum for youth and women.
This positive contribution by Al-Jazeera with regard to the current crisis in Ethiopia is, however, marred by a tendency to present an ethnic and religious perspective rather than an Ethiopian one at a cost to Ethiopian territorial integrity, national security, sovereignty and the unity of its 105 million citizens. I shall highlight substantive historical facts that bind Ethiopians together as Ethiopians.
1. Ethiopia is one of the most celebrated ancient countries in the world.
2. Ethiopia is a beacon of independence not only in Africa but also in what used to be known as the Colonial and “Third World.” It pioneered the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), now called the African Union.
3. Ethiopia is home to the three “Abrahamic faiths” of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. These three faiths have a long history in Ethiopia. They are uniquely and genuinely rooted in Ethiopian culture, history and other threads that bind Ethiopians together. Followers of the Prophet Mohammed fled Arabia to Ethiopia because it welcomed them; offered them safety and security. This fundamental principle of peaceful coexistence among Ethiopia’s major faiths and diverse population distinguishes this country from others. It is an endurable legacy that no one can take away from Ethiopians.
4. Ethiopia’s incredibly rich mosaic and tapestry of people, cultures and faiths is a pillar of strength. The potential of this pillar of strength can only be harnessed and strengthened only by a just, fair and representative form or democratic system that persists as a significant and glaring gap in our country’s remarkable history. It is to fill this gap that innocent people, especially youth are dying.
5. Ethiopia’s foreign policy must be anchored on the interests of the mosaic and vital bridges of mutual cooperation with all countries, especially Ethiopia’s neighbors must be established by a future Ethiopian government.
6. For those that are fair and balanced in their assessments of Ethiopia and its remarkable people, there has not been a time in the country’s long history where one ethnic or religious group declared war on another.
7. Ethnic and religious conflict is never tolerated by ordinary Ethiopians. For example, the vast majority of Ethiopians condemned and rejected the TPLF instigated ethnic conflict between Oromo and Somali Ethiopians.
8. The media should appreciate and recognize the notion that there are Amhara Muslims; Oromo Muslims and Christians etc. Intermarriages among ethnic groups and faiths are common and normal. Mutual celebrations of events are normal. Uniting and fighting against external aggression and internal oppression together is normal etc. Ethiopia is a product of its mosaic.
9. Under the current repressive and oppressive “divide and rule system,” Ethiopians proved to themselves and to the global community that they refuse to kill their “brothers and sisters” because they belong to a different ethnic or religious group. This is why the Amhara or the Oromo or others did not bring themselves down to the point of killing Tigreans who live throughout Ethiopia and have gained immense wealth and riches.
10. Had ethnic hate ruled the day, Ethiopia would have been the new Rwanda. By their behaviors and actions, Ethiopians continue to show mutual tolerance and peaceful coexistence that no other society can match.
11. A major Convention in Seattle, Washington held from February 16-19, 2018 showed that 26 political parties and an equal number of civil society organizations from diverse ethnic and religious groups share common denominators that are often overlooked:
• Commitment to the non-negotiability of Ethiopia as a unified and sovereign country;
• Commitment to the urgent task of defending and preserving Ethiopia as a country; and the prevention of civil conflict and genocide at any cost;
• Commitment to the popular rejection of the divide and rule system of the TPLF;
• Commitment to the urgent need for the formation of a transitional government of national unity that will lead and facilitate fair and free elections;
• Commitment to the rule of law and genuine equality of all ethnic and religious groups in Ethiopia;
• Commitment and support to the popular uprising led by Ethiopia’s youth; and to the formation of a government system that enables citizens to become the only sources of political power; and their representatives solely accountable to them;
• Commitment to sustainable healing, peace and reconciliation;
• Commitment to the notion that state and government and other actors who have committed crimes against humanity in Ethiopia must be held accountable;
• Commitment that there won’t be revenge and retaliation against any one; and,
• Commitment to the immediate release of all political prisoners; to the cessation of extrajudicial measures; and to the annulment of the state of emergency.
In light of the above denominators that bind Ethiopians beyond ethnicity and religious affiliation, domestic and global public opinion is against the TPLF. For the first time, the TPLF instigated divide and rule; and its poisonous and infectious use of fear as an instrument of dictatorial rule are broken. There is convergence between the outrage on the part of Ethiopians and expression of disbelief and disdain for the TPLF on the part of foreign governments and the public.
Dismayed by the inability of the TPLF dominated regime to listen to citizens and change in fundamental ways, the American Embassy in Addis Ababa expressed its disagreement with the regime. On February 17, 2018, it issued a statement on Ethiopia’s third state of emergency. This latest state of emergency is intended to quell the democratic wave led by Ethiopia’s youth.
This demographic group constitutes 70 percent of 105 million people, the second largest in Africa and the 13th largest in the world. The economic, social, political and spiritual needs of this enormous social capital is unmet and cannot be met by the current state and government. Ethiopia is still one the poorest countries on the planet. Growth has failed to meet the basic needs of the population. The economy is captured by elites.
These elites are afraid that fundamental change would come at their expense. As Ambassador Herman Cohen opined in a February 2018 commentary on the Ethiopian crisis, these elites “must be assured that they have “a safe future” in a democratic Ethiopia.
This theme of mutual healing was highlighted at the Seattle Political Stakeholders Conference unanimously. Despite this, lack of confidence and mutual trust continue to inflict pain and suffering on Ethiopian society.
Al-Jazeera had done a remarkable job of ground level research concerning the depth of poverty and destitution among the Amhara population. Not only is it the poorest in Ethiopia; it is also the poorest group in the entire Africa.
But, there are also other Ethiopians who are oppressed and marginalized.
At present, no ethnic or religious group is singled out for repression and oppression. All are victims of the TPLF police state that just confirmed and legalized the state of emergency on February 21, 2018. This law gives license to the TPLF and its agencies and agencies to kill, maim, torture and imprison with impunity. This will deepen the crisis.
A representative of the Ethiopia-based Semayawi (Blue) Party, Yeshiwas Assefa, told the Voice of America (VoA) last night that five Ethiopia based and 21 Diaspora-based political opposition & civic groups that met in Seattle, USA over the weekend under the banner of “Tibeber” (Cooperation) decided to call a “National Salvation Congress” in Ethiopia within a month.
Genzebe Dibaba in the 3000m at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016 (Getty Images)
Africa News
NAIROBI (REUTERS) – 
Addis Abeba, February 23/2018 – The much anticipated meeting of the Council of Ethiopia’s ruling party, EPRDF, will begin on Thursday March 01/2018 and will take place for three consecutive days until Saturday March 03/2018, a source with knowledge to the matter told Addis Standard.
From the Imperial period of Emperor Haile Selassie to the present, elites have dominated politics and the commanding heights of the economy at the expense of citizens and the common good. This political and economic capture by elites is more pronounced and exclusionary today than at any time in Ethiopia’s history.