BY FITSUM GETACHEW
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was in parliament on Tuesday 14 June 2022 to answer to queries presented to him by MPs on timely national and international issues pertinent to the Ethiopian reality. He was particularly challenged by questions presented to him by opposition political leaders on his promises and on the reforms the country has been undergoing during the past four years of his administration.
The premier took four hours to deal with a number of national issues of pressing nature such as the economic performance and the high inflation that has immersed particularly the lower class of the population to deprivation. He also dwelt at length on the recent law enforcement campaign particularly in the Amhara region which an MP said were extensive and ‘unjust’ and not governed by the laws of the country. Besides the premier was also asked explanations if there was any form of negotiations with the TPLF as there have been rumors that he may have met with representatives of the terrorist group in a secretive way recently when he was on a visit outside the country.
The premier was clear and unequivocal in giving explanations to all the questions presented to him by the MPs. He began his answers by inviting the MPs to take into consideration the situation of the country and the world in general since he took office four years ago.
He wanted the attention of the MPs to take into account several natural and manmade incidents that had a big impact on the country and his administration. He mentioned the explosion of Covid-19, the locust invasion of the country for a while, the drought in several parts of the country as natural negative circumstances while the attack of TPLF forces on the Northern Command with the declared intention of dismembering the country had to be defended. And very recently the Russian-Ukraine conflict has added more fuel to the economic hardship several African countries had to withstand in terms of provision of some items that come from these two countries. The premier said the performance of his government must be judged only by taking into account all these factors which were not predicted when the economic and political plans were made by his administration when he assumed power.
The premier then defended his government’s performance in all the questions he was subjected to; including how the reform has been hijacked or aborted and that many of the promises he made in terms of guaranteeing the smooth development into a democratic state was not realized. The premier said there were remarkable achievements despite all the above challenges and enumerated all the progress made in terms of developing the road construction projects in the country, the agricultural transformation which has enabled the country to produce wheat even outside the rainy season and meet the demands of the country avoiding thus imports.
He mentioned the tremendous advancement the national air carrier Ethiopian Airlines has achieved while the rest of its competitors were hard hit by the Covid pandemic. He outlined the increase in income of the airlines and the increase in the number of passengers the Bole International Airport accommodated during the past three, four years. The premier also talked about the tremendous expansion of the telecommunication sector with millions more clients acquired during the reform years.
The premier went to describe the performance of the export trade and noted that for the first time after several years there has been marked increase in export and relative revenue. He however did not hide that inflation was a huge challenge that has been a major problem to citizens particularly in the lower echelon of society. He pointed out the government was trying as hard as it could trying to reach these disadvantaged sectors of society with its subsidies and alleviate their suffering while trying to work hard to address the macro-economic challenges of the country in the coming years.
He said the government had presented a supplementary budget for the coming year that would take into account the plight of the lower class of citizens and help them with further subsidies and assistance. He mentioned how millions of public school children were being supported by school feeding programs not only in Addis but in several other localities as well and this was something that was unheard of in the pre-reform days.
Responding to the suffocation of freedom of expression and the government’s measures taken against certain journalists the premier said there was no excuse for those who transgressed the laws of the country which prohibit the dissemination hateful material leading to creating animosities among communities referring to their ethnic origin or religious belief.
He reiterated that all those who preach hatred and conflict will be brought to account in a court of law and there are no alternatives to the rule of law and equality before the law for everyone irrespective of their profession or trade. He particularly referred to the accusations presented to him on locking down on journalists. He said taking advantage of the government’s indulgence so that democracy could flourish in the country must have been misunderstood and misrepresented by these self-declared journalists who however change their vests on a daily basis from journalist to activist and then politician.
He said such transition could not be used to transgress the law and it is the prerogative and duty of the government to protect the reputation of for instance the armed forces who some self-defined journalists have smeared their reputation. He said disseminating false and fabricated information and tarnishing the image of the armed forces of the country cannot be viewed lightly and with indulgence.
This is too serious a matter to be left to the whims and caprices of anyone and the government cannot sit back and tolerate such developments. He said this was not a matter of free expression of ideas or the dissemination of information but one of tampering with the sovereignty of the country by fuelling animosities and conflicts in the country.
There are no alternatives to safeguarding law and order in any country and that is why the law enforcement bodies have been actively engaged in pursuing all outlaws in particularly the three regional states of Amhara, Oromia, Benshangul Gumuz and in Addis Ababa. He said thousands were arrested because these outlaws were creating havoc in the societies in which they operate.
In Amhara region the premier said most of those who were detained were paramilitary forces that defected from the formal structure and began to act in groups and terrorize the population by using the arms they took from the regional state. They used their weapons to force people to give in to their demands and that was unacceptable for the government which cannot tolerate a parallel force which would risk bringing about chaos.
The campaign he said was initiated on the demand of the local population who wanted peace to be restored and now that these people have been neutralized a huge sigh of relief has been experienced by the population. The same can be said of Oromia where the government undertook a huge mission of neutralizing the terrorist of Shene. He said a thousand were killed and several thousands more detained.
Pertaining to the alleged secretive meetings with TPLF representatives the premier said that his government was willing to undertake any operation that would lead to peace with anyone but that there was no such hidden talks that his government was carrying out without consulting the relevant bodies such as the parliament.
He said a committee has been formed to study into how any peace overtures would be taken advantage of and when the terms and conditions are established, this committee would undertake the peace process with forces that are now in contention with the government.
Peace he said would be to the advantage of everyone but particularly to Tigray where conditions of the civil population have deteriorated lately as the latest indications show. He said the government views the residents of Tigray as its nationals despite the circumstances that have led to the conflict and it must see things beyond the horizon of TPLF who do not seem to worry about the plight of the population.
The premier said as long as the interest of the country is taken care of he would travel extra miles to come to reach a peace agreement with all contending forces because Ethiopia cannot afford to lose its peace that would arrest its development trajectory. The premier said ‘we all need to work hard and talk less, avoid engaging in false narratives and empty talk and thus be prey to those who want to trade on our misfortunes. We must avoid dependence on social media for our information as there are people whose profession is trading with fake news reports and allegations.
The Ethiopian Herald June 16/2022
