Ethiopia: Constitutional Protection of Ethnic Minorities at the Regional Level (original) (raw)
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Ethiopia adopted ethnic federalism and restructured the regions along ethnic lines as soon as the EPRDF took political power by overthrowing the Marxist military government in 1991. The aim of this paper is to examine the merits and the demerits of federalism. The paper particularly assesses federalism in Africa by taking the case of Ethiopia as an example. The paper argues that in order to ensure the success of federalism, it should not be imposed from above. Since its introduction in 1991 and officially sanctioned in the country's 1994 Constitution, ethnic federalism and Article 39 of the Constitution that awarded the self-rule states (regions) the right to secede has become the major source of intense debate. For some, ethnic federalism and the right to secede discourage ethnic tensions in the country and encourage the various ethnic groups to live together peacefully. However, for others, this "experiment" can go out of hand and may lead the country into never-ending ethnic wars and eventually to disintegration. This paper, by taking into account of Ethiopia's and other countries' experiences, will examine both sides of the arguments.
The Developmental State and Ethnic Federalism in Ethiopia: Issues to Worry About
Hawassa University Journal of Law, 2017
Ethiopia's " invention " of ethnic-based federalism had been the center for academic and political debates for the past two decades. In spite of all the criticism and skepticism, the Ethiopian government claims it is committed to fully realize the constitutional dictates to maintain fundamental values that any federal system should exhibit. Particularly, it has been expressing its dedication to preserve the pillars of the federal system including self-administration (self-rule) of the diverse ethnic groups and their representation at central decision-making (shared-rule). Nevertheless, shifts in the political economy narratives of the government posed serious challenges on the fate of the " ethnic federalism " in Ethiopia. Hence, the recent move to the developmental state (DS) has overlooked the federal principles as the extensive measures of " developmentalism " were taken at the cost of ethnonational interests of self-determination. The article is, therefore, aimed at scrutinizing the drawbacks of the developmental paradigm in accommodating the fundamental values of the federal system. Commenting on the existing challenges, this article further contends that it is possible to realize the utopian vision of building DS without eroding the constitutional guarantees of self-determination and subnational autonomy.
Failures and Discontents of Ethnic Based Federalism in Ethiopia
2018
Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and known as a mosaic of Nationalities. In 1991 EPRDF came to power and adopted federal state structure to answer the question of Nationalities that prolonged during the imperial and Derge regimes. This paper attempts to show some failures and discontents of Ethiopian ethnic based federalism by considering four basic criterias. These are; the intensification of ethnic conflicts, the existence of dominant top down politics, absence of federal political culture and the rise of the question of identity. Currently, ethnic based federalism has sharpened ethnic differences and hostility among ethnic groups. Ethnicity and identity are strongly politicized and manipulated for political purpose. There are disparities between regional states to exercise their political and economic powers. The federal government is exercising an increasing control over regions. However, regions lack genuine legitimacy and they are not autonomous to exercise...
Constitutional and Federal Arrangements as Major Sources of Crisis in Ethiopian Politics
Ethiopia, which was one of world civilizations and antiquities, has gone through a number of evolutionary processes in its modern state formation and political architecture. Nevertheless, the long existence of state and government from a distance past has not guaranteed for the existence of democracy, strong institutions and stability in the country till today. This short piece tries to critically analyze the trajectories of political development of Ethiopia since the inception of ethnic-based federal system. It tries to justify why the country is still in a vicious cycle of political turmoil and conflict that has claimed the lives of thousands and adversely affected the socio-economic and political aspects of the state. This study mostly used secondary sources drawn from books, journal articles, newspapers, dissertations and theses, web sources and other documents. The piece has found that the problem of Ethiopia continues to destabilize its existence as a united polity due to systemic and structural incompatibility of the governance system that mostly emanates from its constitutional and federal designs which do not go in line with the interests and demands of the people of the country for accommodation of their diverse nature on the one hand and the promotion of the shared and common values for their integration and unity on the other hand. The author of this piece argues that federalism can be taken as the best governance system for a multicultural state like Ethiopia for reconciling both issues of unity and diversity. It is not because of federalism per se that Ethiopia faces difficulties rather the way the federal system was organized and operated as well as the constitutional framework itself are the impediments for the prevalence of democratic, stable and peaceful Ethiopia under a working federal system. The piece finally prescribes alternative solutions which may be helpful for Ethiopia to uplift itself from the vicious circle of political turmoil and instability. Hence, the piece strongly recommends the necessity of smooth, genuine and peaceful political transition on the basis of fundamental changes in Ethiopia's current constitution and federal arrangement.
The Impact of Ethno-Linguistic Federalism on State Building, the Ethiopian Perspective
2019
Ethno-linguistic federalism in Ethiopia has caused ethno-national diversified groups to be recognized and promoted. The federal formula lacked genuine institutions and practices to promote democratic state unity in diversity. The federal system accelerated diversity which failed to balance ethno-national identity with Ethiopian state citizenship as a result it endangered the state sustenance. Failure to balance national diversity and Ethiopian citizenship brought adverse consequence, such as, ethnic based campus conflict among university students, the displacement of Oromos from Somali regional state, the displacement the Amharas and Oromos from Benishangul Gumuz, the Gedeo people's displacement from Guji Oromia region…etc are some to mention. Above all, ethno-linguistic national identity is taken as a sole defining identity which has created a stumbling block for state/national building in Ethiopia. This article argues it is a must to foster a democratic federal political system in Ethiopia along with building genuine democratic institutions that are accountable to the people. There should, moreover, be a national consensus on maintaining 90 state unity within diversity so that the voices of national minorities (both titular and non-titular) in different regions are heard and respected by allowing them to have political seats in their respective regions.
Ethnicity and restructuring of the state in Ethiopia
2008
Ethnicity has been a key criterion in restructuring the Ethiopian state in federal lines. The cases of dissolved ethno-federal arrangements such as that of the USSR, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia resonated pessimism about the feasibility of federalism based on ethno linguistic lines. In contrast, some relatively successful ethno-linguistic federal arrangements like those of India and Switzerland have shown the feasibility of ethnic federalism in divided societies. Both, critiques and advocates of ethnic federalism have their justifications. ...
The Original Sin of Ethiopian Federalism
Ethnopolitics, 2016
Territorial autonomy for ethnic groups is an important component of Ethiopian federalism designed to deal with the challenges of ethnic diversity. The constitutional decision to use ethnicity as a basis for the organisation of the state represents a recognition of the political relevance of ethnicity. However, the decision that each major ethnic group should be dominant in one and only subnational unit has elevated ethnic identity to a primary political identity. This approach overlooks other historically and politically relevant territorial identities. The constitution thus misses an opportunity to respond to ethnic concerns without freezing ethnicity as an exclusive political identity.
The Edge of Ethnic Federalism, Prospects and Glooms in the Post-1991 Ethiopia
Public Policy and Administration Research, 2017
Since EPRDF seized power following gravy bloodsheds of civil war, in 1991, 'ethnicity' institutes as a cornerstone to enjoy greater political, legal, political economy, and structural space by putting an end to the centralized system of administration. During the early 1990s, numerous political faction groups triggered and pattered by ‘socialism thought’ were considering 'ethnic' based federalism as a magic bullet to bring the long civil war to an end and save the nation of collapse. In the other side of the story, however, since the onset there was/is unfold doubt about the wisdom of giving greater political space to 'ethnicity'. On top, there was/is a debate about the continuing nature, form, and the role of it in the nation’s political discourse. This paper inquires, the two divergent roles, i.e. threats and prospects, ethnic based federalism in the contemporary Ethiopian politics. In addition, I attempt to assess the basic arguments proposed by various st...