Ethiopia: OFC calls for “genuine national dialogue”

Addis Ababa, September 30, 2020 – “Ethiopia has entered a new year with all its heavy political burdens, both with hope and despair. And without a doubt, the expected democratic transition is failing disturbingly, “the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) said in a statement.

The statement, released on September 28, called the “political road map unilaterally drawn by the group in power” to be immediately replaced by a road map commonly drawn by all major stakeholders; and said that “the ruling party must immediately initiate a genuine dialogue to avoid the imminent danger.”

Below is the full statement sent to Addis Standard

A New Years Call for Genuine National Dialogue

Ethiopia it has entered a new year with all its heavy political burdens, both with hope and despair. And without a shadow of a doubt, the expected democratic transition is failing in disturbing ways. If we are to take stock of the Ethiopian New Year that has just ended, much of Oromia, the country’s largest region, has been in crisis where qeerros have returned to the streets while Tigray is increasingly becoming a state. de facto within the largest Ethiopian state. Undoubtedly, the elections in Tigray, which defied the decision of the central government, are a worrying development for the ruling party. Crises big or small surround us across the country.

At the center of all crises is the ruling party’s reluctance to engage the opposition in a real national dialogue and following its own roadmap, if it has one. No less bad is its unilateral decision to extend the term of the current government without reaching any reasonable national consensus with the main stakeholders. Clinging to power at all costs and by all means necessary is the mark of the regime in power. To put it another way, the ruling party persistently refuses to lead the country down the tortuous road to democratic transition. We are at a time when it is very necessary to draw a common roadmap and a real national consensus on the fundamentals of the transformation of the state to achieve a successful transformation. To be sure, most of the steps taken by the existing government to bring the country on a democratic path are half-hearted at best and political stances at worst. As a result, the country’s complex problems have remained unsolved and new ones are being created, with the resulting effect of putting the country’s future and the expected democratic transition at a critical crossroads.

For us, if the country wants to avoid the danger that lies ahead and if we have to get out of the political impasse in which the country finds itself, the following actions must be taken with the utmost urgency and without delay:

1. For the expected democratic transition to succeed, the roadmap unilaterally drawn up by the group in power must be immediately replaced by a roadmap commonly drawn up by all major stakeholders. The arrogant role of a group, whatever the level of claim to be sacred and “I know what is good for people”, cannot and should not be taken seriously given the empty promises of the past. We believe that practical actions and not political positions should be the best way forward.
2. We strongly advise the ruling party to stop its policy of divide and rule, which has been disastrous for the country and its people. This policy must be replaced by inclusive democratic discourses and a constructive compromise between and / or between the country’s political forces. As we have said all along, resorting to the use of force to resolve our political differences did not work in the past and it will not work in the future. We must not forget that the countries of the civilized world have managed to resolve their political differences with “ballots and not bullets.”
3. Our country has been paying dearly for the endless political polarization between and / or the elites in competition for political power since the last days of the imperial regime. Especially the lust for power of successive Ethiopian regimes brought incalculable damage to the country and its peoples in which millions lost their lives, millions were displaced and millions have become refugees. Therefore, it is time for all of us, especially the leaders of the ruling party, to stop the follies of the past and to work for the aggregation of interests instead of mutual destruction.
4. Politically speaking, Ethiopia has reached a critical crossroads and / or a turning point or turning point. We believe that the Somalia scenario or the Rwandan scenario is just around the corner. Avoiding such a scenario should be the position of the responsible political parties and their leaders. In this sense, as the ball is mainly in their court, the ruling party leaders should think twice about the consequences of their political measures and act responsibly. They must know that their follies can cost the country and themselves very dearly.
5. The ruling party must immediately initiate a genuine dialogue to avoid the looming danger. For us, in the absence of an honest national dialogue, the political position alone cannot lift the country out of its partial crisis, which has made our transition “from crisis, from crisis to crisis.”
6. We believe that genuine national dialogue is without it both for addressing the historical injustices thus far and for making historic commitments to build the country on a new democratic foundation. Without a shadow of a doubt, trying to ignore it will not help anyone.
7. We also believe that democracy cannot be built under the condition of serious human rights violations and the increase in the prison population. Therefore, we strongly recommend to the ruling party that peace and stability cannot be achieved by stopping political opponents. To put it another way, both the release of political prisoners and the end of the harassment of opponents go a long way toward bringing about a peaceful democratic transition and easing the birth pain of democratic Ethiopia. For us, this can be a recipe for further political instability and disaster.
8. Finally, we say that the aspirations of the Ethiopian peoples for genuine federalism, democratic governance and meaningful economic development in a stable political environment can be achieved through “genuine, free and fair elections”. The ruling party must know that political rhetoric and demagoguery cannot generate genuine elections that reflect the free will of the various peoples of the country. And as the upcoming elections may well determine the future of Ethiopia as a united political entity, we call on the ruling party to act responsibly in preparing the country and its peoples for peaceful, free and fair elections. We also call on the friends of Ethiopia to make their historic contribution to building a new democratic Ethiopia by exerting real pressure on those who resist fair play and real national dialogue in order to lift our country out of the political quagmire that we have been quiet for. long time. .

Office of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC)