Many political parties/organizations or groups around the world, including in Ethiopia, find coalitions to be useful way to stretch resources and increase power that enables them to further their agenda and ultimately win a political power. There is nothing wrong when blocs of political parties with a common political objectives and goals agree to work together. This does not mean that parties necessarily agree on every issue; but they should have at least one or more important political issue that hold the coalition together. But does a coalition of parties that have entirely opposing political agenda make sense?
In the Ethiopian political arena, this is not the first time that we saw two or more forces of antagonistic political views stand together. We witnessed several unholy alliances formed in Addis Ababa, Asmera, European and the US cities with much fanfare. But how realistic and sustainable is the unity among these actors? Not much; because “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” has always been the characteristic of the alliance of these unprincipled political groups. Obviously, they lack all elements of unifying factors, nor have a fertile ground to grow within the people.
OLF pursues with a failed separatist ideology of carving an independent state out of Ethiopia on the one hand, and Ginbot-7, remnant of the Derg regime, EPRP and a bunch of some die-hard chauvinist groups along with some misguided priests on the other represent an anti-diversity force devoted to dismantle the present federal system in its entirety. Although the latter group openly deny the existence of the many nations and nationalities in the country, which is contravening the prime position of the former, both appeared in public as allies.
The grim fact is that they have uncompromising and irreconcilable political agenda and it is very obvious that there is nothing that unifies and holds them together. In other words, Ethiopia with a unitary state and one language-religion-culture does not unite them; an independent state of Oromia that entirely quash the aspirations of the other group does not either.
Apparently, these wannabes have conflicting priorities and divergent agendas, which hold incompatible and non-negotiable political ends – one desperately strives to secede perhaps using Article-39 of the existing Ethiopian constitution or otherwise, while the other is anti-diversity and federalism hell-bent on abolishing the very constitution that granted an absolute right as a means to hold the nation together. And since this sharp difference is not hidden to each other there is nothing that ties the ad hoc together.
Thus, such coalition is destined to fail time and again. However, the absence of long-term unifying factors between the parties does not prevent them from forming a coalition. They forge one whenever something pops-up in the country; it can be an election or any sort of political upset.
Of course, some characteristics these forces share in common is that both have unrestrained hate towards TPLF and its social base – the people of Tigray – though the present phenomenon has nothing to do with them. If anything, the TPLF and the people of Tigray have played an important role in overthrowing the brutal military regime that owned the second biggest army in the African continent. And this certainly has created resentment on the losers’ side as well as among other adversaries who aspired to dominate Ethiopian politics.
Moreover, the fact that these forces have boundless desire for a political power, God knows where to assume that, both are ready to sacrifice the lives of innocent people. These terror groups not only vowed to change a government through violence means, but also call to torpedo the ongoing nationwide development scheme, including halting and destroying the Hidasse dam in favour of Egypt as well as Eritrea- two self-declared zealous supporters that sponsor and mentor all sort of extremist groups to destabilise and disintegrate Ethiopia.
As we watch and read in their own media, leaders of these forces consistently boast to overthrow the government by hook or by crook, including using violence and by destroying the country’s growing industries, infrastructures as well as major public and civil institutions, which are feeding millions of citizens. Not only that, hate speech is also used as a tactic to incite violence. ESAT, an Eritrean funded television based in Washington DC., and a bunch of affiliated social media networks for instance have always been promoting endless hate and racist propaganda that recently culminated in a call for genocide against ethnic Tigrayans.
To implement this heinous crime against humanity, the anti-Ethiopia terror groups along with some corrupted government officials in the Amara region and the OLF aggressively engaged in fabricating misleading rumours intended to incite and inflame violence among brotherly people. As a result of such sinister act, we witnessed a shameful pogrom that took place in the region, particularly in Gonder zone where ethnic Tigrayans who lived there for generations were targeted.
This further aggravated the unrest and led to vandalism, destruction of properties, the loss of unknown number of civilians and the expulsion of eight thousand innocent ethnic Tigrayan to neighbouring Sudan. Similarly, these terror forces worked hard to intensify the protests in the Oromia state in the guise of defending democratic rights of citizens, which also led to the death of many people and destruction of factories and countless properties.
Regrettably, many innocent people, members of the security force as well as illegal protesters have been killed in the violent riot, infrastructures, public and private properties have been destroyed, schools have been closed and transport has been halted for weeks. And the more troubling is that other ethnic groups were targeted and displaced in both Amara and Oromia regions resulted in a growing nationwide instability. This is what these anti-peace forces have to deliver to the poor people of Ethiopia. This is what they dream for the people they aspire to rule.
As opposed to that awful and unpatriotic venality, the Oromia residents succinctly described the violent act and destruction as “a journey to backwardness’’. Hence, they vowed to stand for peace and apprehend the anti-peace elements. Similarly, the representatives of the Amara people who recently visited Mekelle expressed their disgust and regrets. They condemned the racist and chauvinist elements who are trying create rift by sowing seeds of distrust among the peace-loving people of Amara and Tigray. Of course, there are daunting challenges that lie ahead and the behavioral change of some in the leadership of ANDM, which is the source of the problem in the region, will determine the situation in the Amara region and beyond.
As to the Oromo people in general and those living around the capital in particularly, we must underline that they have a legitimate concern. Hence, it is appropriate to peacefully struggle for their constitutional rights. The same is true for the rest of the peaceful Ethiopian people who obviously have genuine grievance related to bad-governance, poverty, corruption and cronyism as well as other frustrations, hence the people are demanding a government they deserve.
Moreover, it is essential that the government never lose sight that transparency and accountability are fundamental tenets of effective governance. Democracy is about meaningful involvement of the people in planning as well as decision making; thus any development scheme should not be planned and materialized without consulting the people on the right time. In other words, citizens have rights to be involved in the decisions and processes which affect their lives. It is increasingly clear that the country is facing complex problems and the solution is to have a responsive, efficient, accountable, transparent, inclusive and above all a government that ensures law and order. This is the only politically correct way to win the hearts and minds of the people.
By actively linking citizens and the state in the process that affects their lives, trust and cooperation between all stakeholders can be built. Ultimately, these destructive forces will have remote chance to achieve any of their evil intentions though they will leave no stone unturned. The Oromo, Amara and all peace-loving people of Ethiopia should not allow these mercenaries to hijack the legitimate demands and hurt the nation now and again.
Peace and prosperity for the Ethiopian people!
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በደርግ ግዜ 14 ክፍለ ሀገራት ነበሩ እነዚህም
1. ኤርትራ ክ/ሀገር …..ዋና ከተማ አሥመራ
2. ትግራይ ክ/ሀገር…..ዋና ከተማ መቀሌ
3. ቤጌምድር (ኋላ ደርግ በ1980 መዠመሪያ አካባቢ) ወደ ጎንደር ቀየረዉ…….ጎንደር
4. ወሎ ክ/ሀገር…..ደሴ
5. ጎጃም ክ/ሀገር….ባህር ዳር
6. ወለጋ ክ/ሀገር….ነቀምቴ
7. ሸዋ ክፍለ ሀገር……..ዋና ከተማ አዲስ አበባ
8. ሀረርጌ ክፍለ ሀገር….. ዋና ከተማ ሀረር
9. ሲዳሞ ክ/ሀገር …….ዋና ከተማ አዋሣ
10. አርሲ ክ/ ሀገር……ዋና ከተማ አሰላ
11. ባሌ ክ/ሀገር …..ዋና ከተማ ጎባ
12. ጋሞጎፈ ክ/ሀገር…..ዋና ከተማ አርባ ምንጭ
13. ከፋ ክ/ሀገር ……ዋና ከተማ ጅማ
14. ኢሉባቦር ክ/ሀገር….ዋና ከተማ መቱ
ክስተቶች
• ኤርትራ ተገነጠለች ሀገር ሆነች ብር ሣይሆን ናቅፋን አማርኛ ሣይሆን ትግረኛና አረብኛን ብሄራዊ ቋንቋ በማድረግ በራሷ ባንድራ አዲስ አፍሪካዊት ሀገር ሆነች
• የቀሩት አስራ ሦስቱ በዘጠኝ ብሄርን መሠረት በደረገ ክልሎች ተዋቀሩ፡፡
o በዚህ ዉስጥ 10 ቁጥር ላይ ከለዉ አርሲ ክፍለ ሀገር ሌሎቹ በሁለትና ከዚያ በላይ ክልሉች ተከፋፈሉ፡፡ ቀድመዉን በቆዳ ስፋታቸዉ ትልቅ ና በብሄር ስብጠራቸዉ ብዛሃነት የሚታይባቸዉ እንደ ሸዋ፣ሀረርጌ፣ ሲደሞ ክፍለ ሀገር የዚህ መገለጫዎች ናቸዉ፡፡
ሸዋ ክፍለ ሀገር
1. ኦሮሚያ፡- ሰሜን ሸዋ-ሰላሌ(ፊቼ)፣ምሥራቅ ሸዋ (አዳማ)፣ ደቡብ ምዕራብ ሸዋ (ወሊሶ)፣ምዕራብ ሸዋ (አምቦ)፣ፊንፊኔ ዙሪያ ዞን (ፊንፊኔ) ፣ አዲስ አበባ (ፊንፊኔ) እዘህ መሃል ነዉ ያለችዉ) ምዕራብ አርሲ (አርሲ ነጌሌ፣ሻሸመኔ ና ዙሪያዋ፣ ሻላ፣ሲራሮ)
2. ደቡብ ብ/ቤ/ብ ክልል፡- ጉራጌ (ወልቅጤ)፣ ስልጤ (ወራቤ)፣ ሀዲያ (ሆሣዒና)፣ከምባታ ና አላባ
3. አማራ፡- ሰሜን ሸዋ (ደብረ ብርሃን)
4. አፋር፡ ዞን-3
The current regions vs former provinces because of the nature of formation
1. The state of Tigray: Mainly formed from former Tigray province+wolkayit awraja from Gonder+Raya azebo from wollo
2. The state of Afar: Mainly formed from former Harargie and Wollo provinces, +pocket areas from Tigray and Shawa provinces because of nature of new formation of the state.
3. The state of Amhara: Principally formed former Begemidir (Gonder),Gojam and wollo provinces + pocket area of shoa as it is seen above North shoa (Debera birhan).
4. The state of Oromia: Mainly formed former Shawa, Harargeh, Arsi,Wollega, Iluabbor,Bale, Kafa (the current Jimma zone) provinces and also Sidamo (the current Gujji and Borena zone).
5. The state of Somalie: Mainly formed from Hararge (Ogaden area), Bale (Elkare area) and small part of sidamo (Liban zone).
6. The of Benishangul/Gumuz: the areas cut away from Wollega and Gojjam, The region is said to be formed by five native ethnic groups but the proportion of the sum of Oromo and Amhara close 60%
7. The state of SNNRP: Principally formed from former Sidamo (Sidama, Wolaita and Gedeo zones ), Shawa (Gurage,Silte,kambata and Hadia zones alaba woreda), Gamogofa small parts of Kafa and Iluabbor provinces of the former regime.
8. The state of Gambella: One sub-province of former Ilubabor kiflehager (mattu or Gore)
9. The state of Harari: principally Harar town +18 rural kebeles Harar town is considered the second religious center of Islamic world next to Mekkah. Hararis are only 8% percent of the total population of Harari region but jointly administer with Oromos (around 70%)
So where is the demand of Gondere about wolkait? If it is because of administration system Humera was under should be under new system, the formulae doesn’t work and groundless but it is possible to oppose ethnic federalism-it is this administration system that annexed to Tigray. Tigray also given land to Afar, Iluabbabor to Gambella so what? So it is good to be reasonable.
Federalism in its general form, it is not bad, countries like America, Canada, Australia and Europe have adopted and proved its relevance. Even it is the pills now proposal on progress for the countries in crisis like Iraq, Syria etc. In Ethiopia also the constitution is well written but the real application still requires a lot of work and improvement. Federalism is not top down but bottom up, decentralization, taxonomy, identity, autonomy etc
የአዲሱ ካቢኔ ሹመት ና ምልከተዎቼ
1. አዳዲስ ፊቶች፡- የጤና፣የመስኖናኤሌክትሪክ ና የባህል ሚንስትሮች 3ቱም ከዚህ በፊት የማይታወቁ አዳዲስ ፊቶች ናቸዉ፡፡ Indeed, reading from their profile they are also highly professional. This is good beginning but it may not always work. As to me the professional back ground is not only sufficient, the appointee must have proven track record in relation to his/her assignment. I said sometimes it may not work because some times less educated people with high commitment may perform better. Profession + commitment= leads to high productivity.
2. የጠቅላይ ሚንስተር አማካሪ የሚበለዉ ነገር መፍረሱ ደስ ብሎኛል፡፡ ጠቅላይ ሚንስትሩ ምክር አያስፈለገዉም ሣይሆን ማነዉ የሚያመክረዉ የሚለዉ ነዉ? በተለይ የፖሊሲ ጥናትና ምርምር አካባቢ እጅግ ባጣም በሙያቸዉ የተካኑ በላሙያዎች ብመደቡ ቆንጆ ይሆናል፡፡This is the area that needs high level technocrat.
3. ቆንጆ ሥነ ምግበር ያለቸዉ ሰዎች መጥተዋል፡፡ ለምሣሌ ሦስት ግዜ የሚንስተር ቦታ ማግኘት የቸለችዉና የአሁኗ የሴቶች ሚንስተር ተጠቃሽ ነዉ፡፡ ግን የሴቶች ተዋጽኦ አንሷል፡፡
4. ፓርቲዎቹ በተለይም ኦህዲድ ና ደህዲን ፍጹም የመታደስ ዝንባሌዎችን አሣይቷል፡፡ በተለይ ኦህዲድ በክልልም ሆነ በፌድራል ደረጃ መሠረታዊ ለዉጥ ማድረጉ ይታያል፡፡ የትግራይ ነጻ አዉጭ ድርጅትም በሃያ አምስት አመቱ የዉጭ ጉዳይ ሚኒስተርነትን ለኦህዲድ ለቆ በኦህዲድ ተይዞ በነበረዉ የኢኮኖሚ ሚኒስተርነት ና ከአማራዉ የግብርነዉ ሚኒስተርነትን ተረክቧል፡፡ ብአድኖች እንደገነ ወደ ገቢዎች ሚኒስተርነት … ደግማዊ መላኩ ፋንታ? ከተማና ቤቶች ልማት ሚኒስተርነት እንደዚሁ Again I read from the Amhara group did not make so much change …I feel may be fluency in Amharic gave them confidence otherwise the state of Amhara is nothing better than the others. May even worth need reform than other states.
5. ዉጭ ጉዳይ ሆነ የተበለዉን የኦህዲድ ሰዉ በቲቪ ያየሁት ባህር ዳር ላይ አንድ የፌድራል ፖሊስ ሰዉ ገድሎ እራሱን ከጠፋ በኅላ ነዉ፡፡ ሰዉየዉ የትራንስፖርት ሚኒስተር ከሆነ በኋላ በቴሌብዠን ብቅ ይላል፡፡ ይሁንና ግን ቦታዉን ያገኘዉ ኦሮሞ ወክሎ በመሆኑ የትራንስፖርት ሚንስትር በፊት የሠረባቸዉ መስሪያ ቤቶች እሱ ወክየዋለሁ የሚለዉ ህዝብ ከሥርዓቱ ጋር ለ25 ዓመታት የነበራዉ እልህ አስጨራሽ ትንቅንቅ ስናነጽር መገረመችን አልቀረም፡፡ … በአንድ ወቅት አባዱላም እንዲህ ዓይነት ችግር ገጥሞት እንደ ነበር የቅርብ ግዜ ትዝታችን ነዉ፡፡ አሁን ግን ያለምንም ማንገራገር ከኦህዲድ የአባዱላን ያህል ተቀባይነት ያለዉ ሰዉ ያለ አይመስለኝም፡፡ ስለዚህ እንደ ሀገር ዉጭ ጉዳይ ሚኒስተርነትህ እንደ ክልል እንደ ኦህዲድ ምክትል ልቀመንበርነትህ አኩሪ ሥራ ከሰራህ ሰዉ የሚለዉ ነገር ምንም አይደለም፡፡ Big prize for him personally, wow I never expected! Why he shy away from TV unlike his other compatriot.
6. ሌላዉና አስገራሚ የአፋርና ሱማሌ የኮንትራክንና ትራንስተፖርት ሚንስተር መሆናቸዉ ብቻም ሣይሆን ወጣት መሆናቸዉ ለኔ ግርምትን ፈጥሮብኛል፡፡ በተለይ የአፋሯ ሴት መሃንዲስ …It is big breakthrough for both pastoralists. The other big surprise for me is less representation of Muslim in general Oromo Muslim in particular especially at federal level, which represents nearly 50% of the total population of the region and above 25% of the country. Why? I hope it wouldn’t create some sort of friction inside the Oromo sects and pray stick to I am Oromo first! Ideology and moving forward as African Giant!
7. ስለ ተመጣጣኝ ዉክልና ህገ-መንግስቱ ምን ይላል? ሙስሊሞች በቁርዓን ይመራሉ፣ክርስትያኖች በመጽሃፍ ቁድስ ይመራሉ፡፡ እንደ ሀገር ዜጋ ደግሞ በህገ-መንግስት ይመራሉ፡፡ የጋራ ሰነዳችን ምን ይላል? ትልቅ ጥያቄ ነዉ፡፡
Article 39 Rights of Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples
1. Every Nation, Nationality and People in Ethiopia has an unconditional right to self-determination, including the right to secession.
2. Every Nation, Nationality and People in Ethiopia has the right to speak, to write and to develop its own language; to express, to develop and to promote its culture; and to preserve its history.
3. Every Nation, Nationality and People in Ethiopia has the right to a full measure of self-government which includes the right to establish institutions of government in the Territory that it inhabits and to equitable representation in state and Federal governments.
In reference to Federal this can be applicable figure
1. ኦሮሞ (Oromo)…..40%
2. አማራ (Amhara)….22%
3. ሱማሌ (Somalie)…. 7%
4. ትግሬ (Tigiray)….. 6.5%
5. ሲዳማ (Sidama)…..5%
6. ጉራጌ(Gurage)……..2.5%
7. ወላይታ (wolaita)…..2.3%
8. ሀዲያ (Hadia) …..2%
9. አፋር (Afar)……..2%
10. ጋሞ (Gamo)……1.4%
This is the top ten representing close to 90% of the total population of Ethiopia. The sum of the remaining is 10%. Demand for equitable representation both at federal and defense gives sense, if only above figures are respected. Refer article 39. Suppose if there are 30 political appointees needed 12 from Oromo 6 from Amhara 3 from Somalie 3 from Tigray 2 from sidama etc The same is true in Defense (የሀገር መከላከያ ሠራዊት) ግን ይህ ሆኗል ወይ? ደርግ ወደ መዉደቂያ አካባቢ ከሻዕቢያ፣ህወሃትና ኦነግ ጋር በለንደን ድርድር አድርጎ ከተመለሠ በኋላ አማራ ዶምነሽን አለ ተብሎ ስጠየቅ አማረ የሚባል ህዝብ የለም ብሎ ማብራርያ ስሰጥበት እንደነበራ እነስተዉሣለን፡፡
አምሃራ ማለት ቃሉ የህብራይስጥ ስሆን ትርጉሙም በተራራ ላይ የሚኖር ህዝብ ማለት ነዉ ብሎ …ደጋኛዉ ኤርትራዊ፣ትግሬዉ፣ጎንደሬዉ፣ወሎየዉ፣ጎጃሜዉ፣ኦሮሞዉ፣ጉራጌዉ፣ሲዳማዉ፣ከፋዉ ወ.ዘ.ተ አማራ ነዉ? ብሎ በዚሁ ተራ ስዘራዝር ሠምተናል ምን ዓይነት ዶምነሽን? አሁንስ? በርግጥ ሀገር ቤት እያለ አንዴም ስለብሄሩ ያልተናገረዉ ሰዉዬ ሀራሬ ደርሶ የሀገሯን የፖለቲካ ትኩሣት አቅጣጫዉን በማያት ይመስላል፤ በአባቴ ኦሮሞ ነኝ በእናቴ መንዝ ነኝ ብሎ ቁጭ አለ፡፡ ስሜም መንግስቱ ኃይለማሪያም አያና ነዉ፡፡ በርግጥም ስሙ ትክክል ነዉ …ግን ሰዉየዉ አይደለም የሩህሩሁን ኦሮሞ ደም ሣይሆን የዲያብሎስ ደም ነዉ ያለዉ…በኢህአፓ፣መዕሶን፣መጫናቱላማ ና በኦነግ ስም ስንት የኦሮሞ ወጣቶችን ደም እንደ ፈሰሰ ቤት ይቁጠራዉ፡፡ ያም ሆነ ይህ የኔ ጥያቄ አሁንስ ዶሚኔሽኑ ቀርቷል ወይ?
What every ethnic group entitled is article 61ማንኛዉም ብሄር በፌድረሽኑ ይወከላል፡፡ ዝርዝሩን ቀጥሎ ይመልከቱ
Article 61
Members of the House of the Federation
1. The House of the Federation is composed of representatives of Nations, Nationalities and Peoples.
2. Each Nation, Nationality and People shall be represented in the House of the Federation by at least one member. Each Nation or Nationality shall be represented by one additional representative for each one million of its population.
3. Members of the House of the Federation shall be elected by the State Councils. The State Councils may themselves elect representatives to the House of the Federation, or they may hold elections to have the representatives elected by the people directly.
Article 47
Member States ofthe Federal Democratic Republic
1. Member States of the Federal Democratic Republic of
Ethiopia are the following:
1) The State of Tigray
2) The State of Afar
3) The State of Amhara
4) The State of Oromia
5) The State of Somalie
6) The State of BenshanguUGumuz
7) The State of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and
Peoples
8) The State of the Gambela Peoples
9) The State of the Harari People