The Elite and the Quest for Peace, Democracy and Development in Ethiopian: Lessons to be learnt Merera Gudina, AAU & ISS (original) (raw)

Contemporary Socio-Economic & Political Transition in Ethiopia & the Horn of Africa RL Vol XIII No 451 MMXIX

Respublica Litereria , 2019

April 2018 – April 2019 was an eventful year for Ethiopia. PM Abiy has thrown a blowlamp into the heart of Horn of Africa and Ethiopian society and polity, nerve-wracking the terms of engagement of martial titans and thrown the centre of gravity of the Red Sea arena of war into unprecedented peace trajectory. The way he deconstructed the power monsters of the Horn region is purely ontological. Under PM Abiy, his ruling party has widened the political space allowing opposition and opponents to operate. The media has seen a renaissance. The Horn of Africa is moving towards peace and reconciliation have been started. PM Abiy’s recent speech at Davos indicated a major shift from his party’s ideological leanings. While the Ethiopian economy is growing remarkably, a shift in macroeconomic policy can decisively contribute to high growth rates and new margins of manoeuvre for policies. The glittery feature of such percentile growth is that the contribution of real cost reduction recorded is higher than in any of the well-performing emerging markets. A state model that accords primacy to macroeconomic stability notwithstanding; Ethiopia’s growth potential is yet to be mobilised. Structural transformation will in effect involve unchaining self-reinforcing policy trajectories and a coordinated change in the composition and level of public and private sector investments. Historically, Ethiopia has been the target of attack for religious and territorial gain reasons. Dervish, Mahadists and Italian invaders have challenged Ethiopia’s Emperors. The armies of Yohannes on the morning of 16 Nov 1875 destroyed the Egyptians. They tried again to invade from the north, but were again defeated at the battle of Guræ in March 1876. On 7 Dec 1895, Ethiopia gained her victory at Amba Alage, Mequelle on 21 Jan 1986 and at Adwa on 1st of March 1896 against Italy. The fact that the entire Ethiopian people of all nations and nationalities fought against external invaders are great historical narratives that are vital for good citizenship today. Such a history does not lend itself to the kind of ethnicization and fragmentation that we witness today. The Clarion call of Ethiopianness that PM Abiy has repeatedly asserted must be respected. If this is not a justification to teach Ethiopian history, a clinic of human experience and of informed citizenship, then what is? The key to building enduring democracy is the existence of strong, viable, and assertive opposition; whose organisations give structure to the representation of interests of a diverse body of the populace. The hallmark of a competitive election is that it creates uncertainty about who will hold power in its aftermath. Precisely because multiparty elections threaten incumbents with the potential loss of their power, they generate strong incentives for current office-holders to exploit available resources to prevent their replacement by challengers. It proposes itself, and seems within reach, only to evade and appears readily realistic only to resist insight. Keywords: Ethiopia, Political Transition, Economic Liberlisation, Abiy Ahmed,

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“Modern” Ethiopia has been created and maintained through the achievement of external legitimacy. As the European colonial powers such as Great Britain, France, and Italy enabled the Abyssinian (Amhara-Tigray) warlords to create the modern Ethiopian Empire during the last decades of the nineteenth century, successive hegemonic world powers, namely England, the former USSR, and the United States, has maintained the existence of various Ethiopian government until now. At the same time, the successive Amhara-Tigray ...

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