BY GIRMACHEW GASHAW
ADDIS ABABA – Professionals from a cross section of disciplines stated that the Ethiopian government has to encourage and prefer political parties organized based on competitive ideology than those who have always pronounced ethnicity and polarized stance. They also underlined the need for constitutional amendment.
Following the capture of Mekelle ,the capital of Tigray by Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF),Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (Ph.D)
conferred with ENDF’s commanders in the aforesaid city and he advised contesting parties on the occasion to draw a big lesson from the members of ENDF that have showcased true love of one’s country caring for one another during the operation .
As to him, the recent great achievement of ENDF is exemplary to all political parties. This is because when individuals promote diversity in unity than ethnic polarization, they put the interests of their beloved country and fellow brothers and sisters first under any circumstances.
For Assistant Professor of Law at Civil Service University Tesfaye Abate , the constitution has enshrined that federal system in Ethiopian is based on ethnicity because the right to self-determination is required for equitable representations of nations and nationalities especially at federal and regional levels.
Hence, equitable representation may need due attention of nations and nationalities which may require ethnicity, he said adding that but this does not mean that political parties should be organized based on ethnicity. It is possible to form a political party based on ideology instead of ethnicity.
What is more, the right to self-determination is the right to development, according to article 43 of the constitution. Nation’s Nationalities and Peoples of Ethiopia in general are endowed with the right to sustainable development which is directly related to the making of one economic community, he added.
Again this issue is related to the right to work as it is stated under article 41 which says each and every Ethiopian citizen is entitled to choose any legal activity to lead his or her own life. Therefore, the right to work is fundamental to promote the right to sustainable development. For this to happen, it is important to respect people’s right to move from place to place regardless of their ethnicity as it is instrumental in ensuring sustainable development.
“Our past experience tells us, government or political party organization based on ethnicity is very awkward and dangerous one, in fact.”
But if we make the party politics based on idea, it will promote the liberty, development of the society in general, it may also be easy at least to move from one place to another so as to search jobs or do other activities, so that, it would be possible even to exchange labor.
Nowadays it may not be possible to equip one factory or a certain economic institution by the members of one ethnic group. Thus, if political parties are formed based on ideologies, people would have a chance to criticize the political ideology of the party.
“But if the party is based on ethnicity, it may be very difficult to belittle one’s own party as it belongs to their ethnicity. But in political parties based on ideology, it would be easy at least to forward ideas and criticize because it is a matter of idea not identity or ethnicity.”
“When we say one economic community, each and every person should benefit from the development of the country, but now we have witnessed that certain groups of people are benefited out of the development and growth an indication of absence of a fair wealth distribution.”
These days, all citizens regardless of their identity should be encouraged to up come with idea based political parties and forward their views on the way to develop their country, change the living standard of the people, and so on.
Ideology-based political parties do not neglect the identity of each and every citizen. As the issue of identity directly correlated to ethnicity, it should be safeguarded. Similarly, each and every person regardless of identity or ethnicity should be protected. Here it is imperative to making a balance between one’s own identity and idea, he suggested.
Political Philosophy Assistant Professor at Gonder University, Sisay Asemre for his part said that in today’s world, there is no constitution that allows political parties to organize based on ethnicity or religion.
In Ethiopia, it is the constitution that authorized political parties to organize themselves by ethnicity and such sort of arrangements had led the country to instability, insecurity, isolation, destruction as well as endless hostility.
As it is a source for everlasting chaos, the law of the land should be amended page by page so as to address core problems stipulated in it. Thus, amending the constitution is helping the country to immediately come out of this treacherous political perception, Sisay added.
As many civilized countries do, the constitution should be amended in a way that encourages idea based political parties so as to ensure unanimity, amity and sustainable economic development.
Ethnic based federalism blocked the generation of new ideas, said Sisay adding that instead of pressurizing the government to respond to the needs and interests of broad segments of the population, most political parties have developed narrowly defined outlook.
Countries, employing ethnic based politics, are turned to fragile states and remain hostile. By chance, Ethiopia is now staying safe after passing through dreadful situations that might lead to a complete collapse. Over the past two decades, the political parties organized on ethnicity had given the country a hard time as the general public lacked various policy options.
Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) which introduced ethnic based political party is dissolved once and for all as 85 percent of Ethiopians got engrossed with ethnocentric mentality.
“Thus, we have to craft new constitution that equally entertains religions and political parties. For this, there is no time better than today. Unless we revised the constitution, no doubt, it would lead the country to the hostility prevailed more than ever before,” Sisay opined.
The Ethiopian Herald December 23/2020
