ADDIS ABABA- The quest for self-determination, justice, and democracy in Ethiopia need to be addressed according to the constitutional and legal frameworks than violence said political science and legal scholars.
Sisay Asemerie, Assistance Professor of Political Philosophy at Gonder University told The Ethiopian Herald that a large number of political parties were in exile prior to the reform and it is the reformist government that called upon them to return to the country and build a better democratic system together.
Unfortunately, the political science scholar said, some of them are not properly utilizing this welcoming gesture and instead opted to move forward with the old ways of dealing with things. “It seems that they opted for violence to achieve their hidden goals and they have been instigating ethnic conflict between the different groups of Ethiopia that coexisted peacefully for centuries.”
The recent incidents, especially following the assassination of Afan Oromo singer Hachalu Hundessa is a typical manifestation of this fact. “Some media outlets have been openly instigating violence across the country. This is totally in contradiction to the principle of peaceful struggle.”
Peaceful struggles are effective enough to ensure democracy and genuine multinational federalism, he said. But it needs patience.
In the meantime, he said, the government should never allow rule of law to be compromised, he said. The measures that the government has been taking following the recent incident is legally correct and should continue.
The government and competing parties have to build trust to negotiate. If both parties have goodwill, it would be possible to build a democratic system in the country, as to Sisay. The process will also enable to respond to the quest to self-rule and self-determination.
The path the government has followed so far in responding to the question of self-rule and democracy has been promising so far, he added. But it has to up its effort to ensure rule of law in a sustainable manner.
The violent way of struggling for democracy in the past has resulted in a lot of damage to the country.
Ethiopia is a diversified country and there is a need to promote this as an asset for nation-building. “We have to be able to manage the diversity properly in order to utilize it positively,” he said.
“One good thing about this government is it is not using the diversity of the country and its past history to divide the country and achieve some political gains. Instead it is striving to build on the past history,” Sisaye said.
Dejen Yeman, International Law Lecturer at Wollo Univesity also seconded Sisay that the government has to give due emphasis to ensuring the rule of law. The government and concerned bodies including competitive parties need to obey the law because it is a fundamental element for the establishment of an impartial democratic government in the country.
“As a country we have supreme law that governs all of us that is called constitution. No one can be out of this box. Officials, opponents, and other actors as well as the public at all are under the rule of law. Indeed, we all have the duty to obey the law. If there is a complaint about the constitution and quest for amendment, it is possible to solve it in a democratic way without violence.”
The law should be respected by all bodies without any circumstance and at a time the questions need to get a constitutional solution in the process to that end, Dejen said adding a constitution may not be a solution for every question but it can be a starting point to handle the problems in peacefully.
Without ensuring the rule of law it is not possible to address the quest for self-rule, democracy, and justice, he underlined.
The Ethiopian Herald July 16, 2020
BY MULATU BELACHEW
