Experts tip contending political parties to play unprecedented role to curb sporadic violations observed recently across the nation. Tsegaye Mamo, Vice President, Meles Zenawi Leadership Academy, expressed that the current situation should not be considered as something strange. According to him, this is a manifestation of the nature of any process of change.
However, contending political parties should contribute their role in minimizing the conflicts across the nation, he underlined. There are contending Political parties with big supporters which are capable of curbing the current situation if they teach their members, he added. The government is trying to ensure a democratic system that accommodates interests of these political parties, so they should fulfill their responsibilities in the effort to ensure peace in the nation.
“Nevertheless, when I say contending political parties should discharge their responsibilities in stabilizing the nation, it is an open secret that the government takes the lions’ share in this regard that it should strengthen its efforts to ensure rule of law.
In other words, ensuring rule of law should be the priority task of the government for the concepts of democracy, competition, freedom of expression are unthinkable in the absence of rule of law, though other political parties have a role to contribute,” the vice president accentuated. Merara Gudina (PhD), Chairman, Ethiopian Federal Unity Forum and Oromo Federalist Congress, on the other hand said that the government and contending political parties do not, so far have a national consensus regarding the role of opposition political forces.
So it is difficult to contribute their share in the absence of a consensus on a clear framework with. “We do not have a guiding framework agreement on basic national issues with the government that clearly state our roles away from some discussions and that is the very gap we still have,” he noted. In this regard, Tsegaye Mamo for his part said this has nothing to do with having a legal agreement of framework.
According to him, this is as such simple that opposition political parties can contribute their role by teaching their supporters to be refrained from taking part in activities that destabilize the peace and security from the very beginning. Not only that but they can also teach them to expose other parties trying to create chaos, he signified. Merara, in the meantime expressed that his party has taken its own initiative not to let its supporters throw stones on the government like the previous times.
The federal government should reach a consensus with the major opposition political parties in the nation regarding their roles on basic national issues if it really wants them play a role in on the current situation, the doctor opined. “Ethiopia has deep rooted culture of solving such conflicts via religious fathers, elders and the society at all levels. So I believe that we, still, have those big chances to do so,” Tsegaye reiterated.
The Ethiopian Herald, January 9/2019
BY SHUSHAY ADANE
