For long, there has been a lot of call for widening up the political space in Ethiopia. While members of the general public have had little room to exercise freedom of expression, political parties have also been completely devoid of any platform to promote their political agendas. Over the past 27 years, the country has conducted five general elections, out of which the government won more than 99 percent of parliamentary seats in recent two. Political unrests have been occurring here and there which forced the government to accept the fact that the political platform has narrowed.
The following reform initiative allowed the political space in the country to widen up as several imprisoned politicians and journalists were released. In addition, the government has also unblocked banned websites and TV channels. Since then, the government has been deliberating with political parties, civic societies and the general public on various issues of national interest in light of the reform. Particularly, the incumbent has given special attention to amending previous laws which are believed to be obstacles to the ongoing reform. Among which is the amendment of repressive laws with the bid to paving the way for the democratization of the country.
Here, the case in point is the amendment of the election law, the anti-terrorism law, and the charities and societies proclamation. With a bid to give fair representation to the public’s vote, political parties have reached an agreement to amend the election law. Accordingly, theyreached consensus to change the election system of the country from a simple majority to a mixture of a simple majority and proportional representation.
In a similar fashion, significant reform is being undertaken in the election board. Similar initiatives are also there to amending the antiterrorism law. One of the major actions the government has taken to facilitate the reform process was the establishment of the Legal and Justice Affairs Advisory Council. So far, the council has been striving to support the effective amendment of the laws, said Abdulatif Kedir Council’s Acting Coordinator.
As to Abdulatif, the Advisory Council was established by drawing professionals from Addis Ababa University School of Law. In addition, various efforts have been exerted to recruit well-qualified additional professionals. Besides, wellexperienced lawyers and juries are also included. “The group of staff members is qualified and committed to getting the job done. Hence, there is no concern raised so far regarding professional competence.” The Council is mandated with providing support for the professionals through coordination, as well as the provision of technical support and assistance to help them to plan, and follow up their activities, conduct research, and other related tasks.
Indicating that the Council has been advising the amendment of various laws that are submitted to it, he said it is striving to discharge its main responsibility which is amending laws that are a bottleneck for the ongoing reform and building a democratic system. Accordingly, the Council assessed the antiterrorism law, charity and society’s law, media laws by taking the experience of other countries and the principles of the constitution into consideration. The team organized for this purpose under the council has prepared the draft proclamation of charity and societies law and submitted the result to the Attorney General and Council of Ministers.
The House of Peoples Representatives is expected to ratify the draft document in the foreseeable future. Regarding the antiterrorism law, he said, the amendment process has become a debatable issue. Some argue that it is possible to hold terrorists liable using the existing law. Others, on the other hand, argue that the existence of the law would narrow the political space as it can be abused or misused to achieve political ends.
Some others still say anti-terrorism law is common in other countries and treating the issue by preparing a special legal document is useful. The anti-terrorism law has given special power for executive bodies and security forces to undergo a serious investigation to get the required information. So in a country where there is an infant democracy, it is risky to provide unlimited power to a given authority.
That is why some legal professionals are for the cessation of the anti-terrorism law. However, Abdulatif said the council has not agreed upon to cancel it out. The debate raised on the deliberation would be reflected in research. For the time being, the directive was given to apply the law by putting in place some controlling mechanisms in order to fulfill the gaps. Hence, the draft proclamation has already been prepared.
The draft proclamation on the establishment of prison houses has also been finalized and is expected to be presented for the concerned authority. The document is sent to another team which is assigned to look into criminal related issues for assessment. As the professionals are working dedicatedly, the overall performance of the team is promising, the Acting Coordinator said. Presently, various laws are presented to the team for amendments.
Of which, trade law, three proclamations related to the media and other rules, regulations, and directives ratified by the council of ministers that needs some modification are revisited again. Yet, the election law remains at the forefront of the Council’s serious attention. The Legal and Justice Affairs Advisory council has prepared a strategy in order to ensure large public participation.
Accordingly, since its inception, the team has been organizing a consultative forum to discuss for example the amendment process of the charity and societies law. In order to amend democratic institutions especially in relation to election law, consultative forums have also organized to deliberate with various political parties and concerned bodies. “When the preparation of the draft law is finalized, we will organize similar platforms,” he said. As professionals in the Council are working in their spare time, it has become difficult to conduct in-depth research on every specific issue. “To solve this problem, for instance, the Charities and Societies Agency has hired manpower for the Council on full-time basis.”
Herald February 7/2019
BY GIRMACHEW GASHAW
