Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed yesterday said the Sidama referendum is an expression of the democratization path Ethiopia has set out on and called up on citizens to engage in the progress peacefully.
True, the Sidama referendum is one of the landmark events in the democratic progress of the country. It has become a common consensus that though the country adopted a constitution that grantees its nations, nationalities, and peoples the right to self-determination, it is the first time that it is practiced on the ground.
Two and a half decades prior, Ethiopia became the Federal Democratic Republic by adopting a multi-national federal system with the view to create one political and economic community while at the same time respecting diversity. The multi-national federal system and decentralized form of government are here to address the age-long questions of Ethiopians.
The Ethiopian federal-state system is designed based on the historical dialectics in the country. Various ethnic groups believe that they had been oppressed by some others that had been in power for centuries. The federal system is believed to solve this historical injustice among the peoples of Ethiopia by promoting democracy and equality.
Though forming a decentralized form of government is a radical shift in the history of the country, many criticize the constitutional federal system as has been a paper tiger. Some even go as far as to claim that what has been practiced in the past 27 years was a centralized form of administration where every political decision has been passed down from the central committee of the ruling coalition, Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front.
There is no doubt that, though Ethiopia’s constitution grantees the right to self-determination to the nations, nationalities, and peoples of Ethiopia, the reality on the ground was different – a single group of people directly or indirectly controlled the affairs of the peoples of Ethiopia.
Since the start of the reform, there is a general consensus that what has been practiced in Ethiopia for the past 27 years is pseudo-federalism. The centralized decision-making system of the ruling party EPRDF has prevented states from enjoying true federalism.
The reform seems to address these concerns. Now, the people have just started to experience the change in the application of the federal system. The Sidama question of self-determination that had been oppressed for the last 27 years is the best case to demonstrate this.
Yesterday, the Sidama People went out to decide their destiny through their votes in the statehood referendum. Nearly, two million people have taken part in the much awaited-referendum which is the fulfillment of the constitutional right of self-determination.
The Ethiopian Herald, November 21/2019
BY STAFF REPORTER
