Nthe politics of ethnicity in ethiopia pdf merger

Allo is lse fellow in human rights at the centre for the study of human rights. Ethnicity, democratisation and decentralization in ethiopia. Democracy and the politics of ethnicity walle engedayehu after more than a decade and a half of devastating civil war, a dramatic turn of events took place in ethiopia in may 1991, culminating in the ouster of former marxist leader mengistu haile mariam and his dergdominated regime. Conversations about change cease to center on shared concern like justice, human rights and democracy and turn to disputes over ethnicity. Although ethiopias official language is amharic, there are a. Ethiopia is a subsaharan country found in the horn of africa. Ethnicity, democratisation and decentralization in. Dec 22, 2016 ethnic tensions in gondar reflect the toxic nature of ethiopian politics from uneven development to authoritarian government, the morass of issues facing the city of gondar offer a snapshot of. The country enjoys diverse cultures such as world famous cuisines, woven cotton costume. Ayichew abstract ethiopia is a multiethnic nation with cultural differences between its component ethnic groups. Ethiopia country report ethiopia is a landlocked country located in east africa, and is bordered by eritrea, djibouti, somalia, kenya and sudan.

Federalism is often cited as the most effective way to manage ethnic tensions because it promises to give communities a degree of selfgovernment and it means. Filtered through the medium of a limited number of sources mostly international reporters unfamiliar with the local context, or foreign diplomats aloof from everyday politics and sufferings in the country in which they serve the information and pictures of. This paper discusses the contending political ideologies in ethiopia after 1991, i. Most of its people speak an ethiosemitic or cushitic language which are both part of the afroasiatic language family, while others speak nilosaharan languages. The politics of ethnicity in ethiopia democracy in africa. Now that the ethnic federal experiment is more than a decade old, it is possible to make a tentative evaluation of its performance. For a specific analysis of the population of ethiopia, see demographics of ethiopia. As universities across ethiopia close to avert spread of the covid19 virus, amnesty international is politics ethiopia appoints three ministers, commissioner, attorney general. Ethiopia ruling coalition to merge with affiliate parties. Abate mammo, a demographer, deflated the false sense of demographic reality in his article, population distribution in ethiopia.

Ethnic federalism in ethiopia offered the prospect of a shift away from the high modernism of that states past projects to develop its people, apparently in favour of the collective perspectives of groups of its citizens. Such a discussion is of paramount importance if one aims to understand contemporary ethiopian politics and controversies and at the same time situate oneself within. On 23 november 2019, the sidama zone became the 10th regional state in ethiopia after a zonewide referendum. Lakew phd politics of ethnicity is a primordial thinking and mode of existence but in contemporary society it is a disguised pseudo political movement that has no social basis in its origin but designed purposely to emotionally manipulate and drive members to be sensational loyal fighters, nonreasoning and thinking human beings, to the movement, in order few canny power. In a press conference, the semayawi party blue party, ethiopian democratic party edp, patriotic ginbot 7, and unity party up said they are forming a new party.

Ethiopia is much more than the sum of all the political parties and ethnic groups. The judiciary is more or less independent of the executive and the legislature. They speak the sidamo language, which is a language of the cushitic branch of. Ethiopia is a multinational country with about 85 ethnolinguistic groups and since. Download the podcast of lovise aalens talk on the politics of ethnicity in ethiopia. The one prominent exception is ethiopia, which since 1991 has imposed a system of ethnic based federalism that offers each ethnic group the right of selfdetermination.

Drivers of ethnic conflict in contemporary ethiopia. Jul 18, 2019 ethiopia is home to a number of ethnic groups. Ethiopia must abandon ethnic politics or it will explode. The politics of ethnic identity and conflicts under ethnic. The ethiopian peoples revolutionary democratic front eprdf, led by its chairman and prime minister, meles zenawi, has radically reformed ethiopias political system. That is mainly why we do not see any promising development both from ethiopia and abroad. In the local power politics, ethnicity plays a central. Ethiopia is one of ethnically diverse nations in the world.

Aug 04, 2015 politics in ethiopia becomes heavily centralized on ethnicity rather than on shared concerns such as democracy, development, justice, human rights, etc. Actors, power and mobilisation under ethnic federalism to the african studies seminar at oxford university below. May 16, 2012 the politics of ethnicity in ethiopia. Despite being africas oldest independent country, ethiopia is one of africas poorest states, better known for its periodic droughts, famines, and intermittent civil conflicts. Jun 22, 2011 most governments in africa, seeing the political mobilisation of ethnicity as a threat, have rejected the use of ethnic differences as an explicit basis for political representation. Media in category politics of ethiopia the following 11 files are in this category, out of 11 total.

Lets talk about ethnicity and nationalism in ethiopia. Ethiopia is a mosaic of about 100 languages that can be classified into four groups. The one prominent exception is ethiopia, which since 1991 has imposed a system of ethnicbased federalism that offers each ethnic group the right of self. Percentage distribution of population of ethiopia by pedoman praktis bermain bulutangkis pdf broad age. By way of concluding this essay, i like to go back to the politics of ethnicity and suggest the following immediate tasks to be met by the eprdf. Politics related to ethiopia has become so heavily ethnicized that we have a difficult time distinguishing between ideology and identity.

The regime transformed the hitherto centralised state into the federal democratic republic and also redefined citizenship, politics and identity on ethnic grounds. Since the transitional government of ethiopia came to office in may 1991, a number of steps have been taken and policy instruments formulated first to rehabilitate the shattered social and economic infrastructure and secondly to lay down a strong foundation for sustainable development in the years ahead. Nobody can rule ethiopia for long on the basis of ethnic agenda. This article or section possibly contains synthesis of material which does not verifiably mention or relate to the main topic. This expression captures the essence of what constitutes social order in tigray and the ancient highlands of abyssinia individuals relatio. Here, a point that should not be missed in any intellectual venture to understand ethnicity is the paradox that surrounds identity politics. The planned 2004 census has unfortunately been postponed. Ethnic politics and its effect on democracy in ethiopia by. This multiplicity in language, religion, culture, tradition and the overall identity is actually a beauty for the country considering the fact that the peoples of ethiopia have had the culture of living together without any narrowly and shallowlyfocused ethnic belongingness. He writes on the issues behind several months of protests by ethiopias largest ethnic group, the oromos.

The ruling party should encourage wide open forums in the universities to revisit the current federal structure of ethiopia and allow debates of pros and cons pertaining to ethnic federation. Professor christopher clapham whose studies of ethiopian politics began in the early 1960s was the author of haile selassies government. The politics of ethnicity in ethiopia african social studies. Actors, power and mobilization under ethnic federalism, e. With an estimated population of more than 85,000,000, ethiopia is africas second most populous country. Ethnicity must steer toward unity and reciprocity to be consistent and empowering. Over the past two years, ethiopia has experienced both rapid political liberalisation. Meretna abona eya eti tselaei dima hawna was the expression used by an elderly tigrayan peasant to explain to me the convoluted reasons for the eritreanethiopian war 19982000. Executive power is exercised by the government while legislative power is vested in the parliament. Their language is called sidaamuafoo, which according to the 1994 national census was the mother language of 99. This chapter aims at providing a general background about the politics of. From the north to the south, the range in types of social system, dress, diet and languages far exceeds that to be found elsewhere in the world. Prime minister abiy ahmed of ethiopia warns opposition political parties who called for the establishment politics eritrean president isaias concludes ethiopia visit. The oromo, amhara, somali and tigrayans make up more than threequarters 75% of the population, but there are more than 80 different.

Ethnic federalism and its discontents crisis group. More recently in 1988 his much acclaimed work revolutionary ethiopia was published by the cambridge university press. Although ethiopia is not new to ethnic based conflicts, their scale and. Actors, power and mobiliza tion under ethnic federalism, is made up of a laconic preface, eight. In fact, in ethiopia in general and in the amhara region in particular, the politics of identity is defined on an ethnic basis aalen, 2011. Here, a point that should not be missed in any intellectual venture to understand ethnicity is the paradox that. A balance sheet of post1991 ethnically based federalism the political transition in ethiopia in 1991 came at a time when there were high hopes among africans, civilsociety organizations, the international community and scholars for processes of democratisation. Political tensions date back to the formation of ethiopias unique brand of ethnic federalism. According to a 20 world bank report, ethiopia had a population of roughly 94. Jawar tends to view ethiopia s politics and history as a field of ethnic contestation and hence prefers a system where political representation is organized along ethnic lines. The course includes theoretical and multicountry studies of ethnic politics and also includes indepth case studies of nigeria, the united states, southern africa, india, and sudan. Actors, power and mobilization under ethnic federalism.

Actors, power and mobiliza tion under ethnic federalism, is made up of a laconic. Ethnicity, democratisation and decentralization in ethiopia 85 while using naked force to suppress the same demands on the other. Four ethiopia wide political parties agree to merge january 1, 2019 four ethiopia wide political parties have agreed to merge and form one citizenbased party. Mar 29, 20 that is mainly why we do not see any promising development both from ethiopia and abroad. This book examines the impact of the federal restructuring of ethiopia on ethnic conflicts. Ethnic tensions in gondar reflect the toxic nature of ethiopian politics from uneven development to authoritarian government, the morass of. Ethiopia is an ancient country with a number of peculiarities. The study used multiple methods of data collection.

Nationalism, nationality and regionalism in ethiopia c. Ethnic federalism and its discontents crisis group africa report n153, 4 september 2009 page 2 ii. That countrys major civil wars were between the central government, which was seen to have been dominated by the amhara people, and various insurgency groups bearing the names of ethnic groups such as the oromo, tigre, afar, ogaden, and beni. The view from below and from the south, east, and west. A situation analysis and trend assessment a writenet report by sarah vaughan commissioned by united nations high commissioner for refugees, protection information section dip january 2004. He writes on the issues behind several months of protests by ethiopia s largest ethnic group, the oromos. Nov 09, 2012 ethnicity and ethnic politics in ethiopia by seble teweldebirhan addis ababa, november 9, 2012 nowadays, when someone tries to be less sensitive about ethnicity, heshe is considered unsympathetic to the rights of marginalized groups and their rightful issues. Democracy and the politics of ethnicity walle engedayehu after more than a decade and a half of devastating civil war, a dramatic turn of events took place in ethiopia in may 1991, culminating in the ouster of former marxist leader mengistu. Politics prime minister abiy of ethiopia warns opposition parties.

Methodologically, the study was an empirical analysis of nature and dynamics of conflicts under ethnic federal system and politicized ethnicity in ethiopia since 1991. Images of war, narratives of suffering and notions of ethnicity are intrinsically linked to western perceptions of africa. The adoption of ethnic federalism in ethiopia was closely related with the problem of creating a state structure that could be used as instrument of managing the complex ethnolinguistic diversity of the country. Ethiopia is a multiethnic nation with cultural differences between its component ethnic groups. Critique and reflection on eprdfs policies and practices. Moreover, no one benefits from this disintegration than those who are interested in maintaining the status quo, mainly the ruling regime.

Jul 23, 20 ethnicity, democratisation and decentralization in ethiopia 85 while using naked force to suppress the same demands on the other. As indicated earlier, in ethiopia ethnicity has been identified by many as a major cause of conflict. The government of ethiopia is structured in the form of a federal parliamentary republic, whereby the prime minister is the head of government. The imperial period 1974 ethiopia is the only african state never colonised by a foreign power.

In ethiopia, the federal constitution stipulates that the members of the first chamber, the house of peoples representatives, are the representatives of the ethiopian people as a whole. The politics of ethnicity in ethiopia african social. There are 9 ethnically based administrative regions and two. The land is our father, the enemy our brother, tig. The course includes theoretical and multicountry studies of ethnic politics and also includes in depth case studies of nigeria, the united states, southern africa, india, and sudan. Lakew phd politics of ethnicity is a primordial thinking and mode of existence but in contemporary society it is a disguised pseudo political movement that has no social basis in its origin but designed purposely to emotionally manipulate and drive members to be sensational loyal fighters, nonreasoning and thinking human beings, to the movement, in order few canny.

The one prominent exception is ethiopia, which since 1991 has imposed a system of ethnicbased federalism that offers each ethnic group the right of selfdetermination. So far, ethiopia has conducted two decennial national censusesin 1984 and again in 1994. Ethnicity and ethnic politics in ethiopia by seble teweldebirhan addis ababa, november 9, 2012 nowadays, when someone tries to be less sensitive about ethnicity, heshe is considered unsympathetic to the rights of. The vast majority of languages belong to the semitic, cushitic, or omotic groups, all part of the afroasiatic language family. Ethnic politics and the cracks in the dry ground of the tplf. It has been suggested that list of ethnic groups in ethiopia be merged into this article. It traces its origin to the kingdoms that emerged in the northern highlands in the fourth century. In 1991, politicians divided the countrys population nearly 50 million people at the time. The ruling coalition in ethiopia, which has been on power for over two decades, has three ethnic and one region based political parties, namely from tigre, amhara, oromo ethic groups and a party representing the southern part of the country with over 40 ethnic groups. Most governments in africa, seeing the political mobilisation of ethnicity as a threat, have rejected the use of ethnic differences as an explicit basis for political representation. Ethiopias population is highly diverse with different languages and ethnic groups. Conversations about change cease to center on shared concern like justice, human rights and democracy and turn to. Ethiopians are ethnically diverse, with the most important differences on the basis of linguistic categorization.