Reputation of PM as NPP Winner Should Not Come at Expense of Territorial Integrity: Diasporas in Norway

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Addis Ababa November 20/2020 (ENA) The law enforcement operations in Tigray are meant to ensure peace and security in the country and maintain the territorial integrity of Ethiopia, a group of academician and professional Ethiopians and Norwegian nationals of Ethiopian origin residing in Norway said.

In a letter sent to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, the group of professionals said there have been various characterizations of the nature of the measures that are currently underway since the start of the military operations by the federal government against TPLF.

Some international media outlets have inadvertently and wrongly portrayed it as a civil war while the Ethiopian Federal Government depicted the current measure as having “clear, limited and achievable objectives.”

This is a law enforcement operation against a group that openly attacked the Northern Command of the ENDF which was safeguarding the Tigray Regional Government for over twenty-one years, the letter stated, adding that the magnitude of the carnage and atrocities inflicted by the attack on the National Defense Force was utterly abysmal that led the  government into this law and order enforcement action.

For all the relentless testing and provocation PM Abiy Ahmed and his government endured in the past two and half years, his current measures are pretty late, not to mention that even arbitrations through “shimagilina” (an indigenous conflict resolution mechanism by respected elders) was declined and failed due to the uncompromising nature of TPLF, the academicians and professionals noted.

TPLF has never given a chance for a peace and peaceful resolution of political differences, they underscored.

“We, therefore, would like to bring affront to the Nobel Committee's understanding that the accusations targeted at the Prime Minister and his government are unfounded, biased and unfair. In our opinion, the Federal Government’s law enforcement operations are rather meant to ensure peace and security in the country and maintain the territorial integrity of Ethiopia.”

It is also meant to defend the rights of citizens taken hostage by TPLF. The current law enforcement action is part of the price that must be paid to keep the federal order and to ultimately bring peace and stability in the country.

The statement further added that an international reputation as a Nobel Peace Prize winner and the expectations that followed should not come at the expense of peace, security and territorial integrity of Ethiopia.

Accordingly, peace loving Ethiopians not only understand Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s position but also strongly support his current law enforcement actions.

See the full letter below

19/11/2020The Norwegian Nobel Committee,

The Norwegian Nobel Institute Henrik Ibsens gate 51

0255 Oslo, Norway

RE: Nobel Laureate Abiy Ahmed Ali and his recent law enforcement operation in Tigray Region, Ethiopia

Dear Honorable Members of The Norwegian Nobel Committee,

In a letter dated 27 July 2020, we raised our concern about the political and humanitarian crises in Ethiopia that seem to be masterminded by extreme ethnic-based political groups and individuals.

More recently, a situation of far greater magnitude and concern demanded the Federal government to undertake a comprehensive law enforcement action in Tigray Regional State, Ethiopia. However, we believe that the international community and the Nobel Committee alike are being fed with deliberately misconstrued and misleading information regarding this law enforcement operation in Tigray.

We have even seen reports that imply that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, as a Nobel Laureate, should have never engaged in such law enforcement actions.We believe this is utterly wrong and does not do justice to the current situation in Ethiopia. We are therefore obliged to write this letter to express our concern about the misinformation and defamation of the government of Ethiopia as well as the Prime Minister. As a group of scholars of Ethiopian origin who are seriously following the current developments in Ethiopia, we would like to provide you with the correct picture of the context and the existing reality inEthiopia.

Prime Minister Abiy came to office in 2018 with the popular uprising and the political fracture within the ruling party, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).

Since  coming to power, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has initiated and played a crucial role for peace and stability of the Horn of Africa which earns him the Nobel Peace Prize. On the other hand, for far too long PM Abiy has been criticized for choosing dialogue over proactive measures against elements that were working hard to destabilize and create disorder in the country for petty political gain.

As stated by the Nobel Committee on the day of the award, the prize was awarded for his efforts to "achieve peace and international cooperation.” However, we believe that the award should not hinder PM Abiy from taking necessary law enforcement operations against groups threatening not only the stability and territorial integrity of Ethiopia, but also the fragile region of EastAfrica.

We believe it is in the knowledge of the Nobel committee in what ordeal Ethiopia and Ethiopians were through for over twenty-seven years. PM Abiy Ahmed, in 2018, inherited Ethiopia that was abused by corruption and hegemonic ethnic-nationalist groups. The phony federalism implemented in the country left nothing but a deeply divided and polarized society. Since the Prime Minister came to office, the Federal Government has attempted to undertake wide-ranging politico-security and economic reforms aimed at significantly overturning the dominant and oppressive structures of power that had shattered the country’s democratic and economic potentials. Reform measures such as the liberalization of the political environment that led to the return of many exiled political groups and scholars to the country are major indicators of his motivation for tolerance and dialogue.The peace with Eritrea and the mediation effort of the Prime Minister in Sudan and Somalia were vivid examples of what a peacemaker leader can achieve within a short time after assuming office. We believe that these good attributes were the ones that earned him the Nobel Peace Prize recognition from your office in the year 2019.

Nonetheless, such reforms have never been acceptable for the leaders of the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF), who is the ruling party of the Regional State that also ruled the country for almost three decades until 2018. In fact, it was very clear from the outset that the TPLF-led coalition, built Ethiopia in its persona and a long for its own interests.Most of the now radicalized TPLF would like the world to believe that Ethiopia continued as a state because of TPLF’s leadership with its mantra “if we are not in power, Ethiopia will exist no more”. What they have been doing in their subversive actions since they flee into hiding in Mekele, which is the capital city of the Tigray Regional State, was constantly challenging the patience of the Federal Government in a bid to realize this old mantra of centrifugal tendency.Sinceitwasremovedfrom political power in 2018, the TPLF turned into a radical political organization returning to its very nature as a rebel force employing various tactics, such as narrative with extensive destructive propaganda through social media as well as financially and ideologically sponsoring armed groups that perpetrate attacks against civilians in the hope of forcing the incumbent and the Ethiopians into frustration. TPLF could have an opposition force that aspires to challenge the regime constructively. Unfortunately, this is not in its nature for all TPLF knows and what it was created

for is an armed struggle and an ideology of narrow ethnic nationalism. They have gone even too far by conducting a regional election, which was postponed for the rest of the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic, without the recognition of the National Election Board and claimingTPLF as the only legitimate party in the whole country.

Many scholars, political parties, and individual citizens were persistently calling upon the incumbentgovernment,specificallythePrimeMinisterfortheneedtomaintainlawandorder,the basic function of any government. To this effect, the government has been at the center of in tense criticism in the face of ethnic violence and conflicts incited by the TPLF and other rebel forces loyal to this disruptive group. These ethnic conflicts and violence have resulted in the death of thousands of people, displacement of millions of people, destruction of properties as well as acts of instability that have far-reaching consequences.

The immediate cause of the current conflict was the unprovoked brutal attack on the Northern command of the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) by the special forces of TPLF. This incident was publicly admitted in a televised discussion by a high ranking official of the TPLF, Mr. Sekoutoure Getachew. Getachew confirmed that TPLF made pre-emptive strikes against the Ethiopian army’s Northern command. In doing so, TPLF provoked the Ethiopian government to engage in law enforcement operations. We believe that the conflict between the Federal government of Ethiopia and the TPLF is an act of law enforcement processes that would have otherwise never happened if the TPLF were a law-abiding and peace loving entity.As you rightly stated in your announcement at the Nobel peace prize for 2019, “Peace does not arise from the actions of one party alone”.

Even if Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is committed to promoting peace and security in the Horn of Africa, for the last two years. It is known that the TPLF has been working tirelessly to undermine Abiy’s peacemaking effort between Ethiopian and Eritrea. TPLF has been hiding in its regional constituency preparing for war, sponsoring atrocities, and committing terrorist acts throughout the country. As a consequence, countless civilians and innocent citizens who do not even comprehend the current political changes in the country lost their lives and livelihood.

Since the start of military operations by the Ethiopian Federal Government against the TPLF,there have been various characterizations of the nature of the measures that are currently underway. Some international media outlets inadvertently and wrongly portrayed it as a civil war while the Ethiopian Federal Government depicted the current measure as having “clear, limited and achievable objectives”. This is a law enforcement operation against a group that openly attacked the northern command of the ENDF which was safeguarding the Tigray RegionalGovernmentfor over twenty-one years. The magnitude of the carnage and atrocities inflicted by the attack on the ENDF was utterly abysmal that led the Federal Government into this law and order enforcement action.

For all the relentless testing and provocation PM Abiy Ahmed and his government endured in the past two and half years, his current measures are pretty late, not to mention that even arbitration through “shimagilina” (an indigenous conflict resolution mechanism by respected elders) was declined and failed due to the uncompromising nature of TPLF. TPLF has never given a chance for a peace and peaceful resolution of political differences.

We, therefore, would like to bring affront to the Nobel Committee's understanding that the accusations targeted at the Prime Minister and his government are unfounded, biased and unfair. In our opinion, the Federal Government’s law enforcement operations are rather meant to ensure peace and security in the country and maintain the territorial integrity of Ethiopia.It is also meant to defend the rights of citizens taken hostage by TPLF. The current law enforcement action is part of the price that must be paid to keep the federal order and to ultimately bring peace and stability in the country. Thus, an international reputation as a Nobel Peace Prize winner and the expectations that followed should not come at the expense of peace, security and territorial integrity of Ethiopia. Peace loving Ethiopians not only understand Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s position but also strongly support his current law enforcement actions.

Sincerely yours,

 A group of academician and professional Ethiopians and Norwegian nationals of Ethiopian origin residing in Norway

CC:

Honorable Ine Eriksen Søreide, Minister of Foreign Affairs Honorable Dag- Inge Ulstein, Minister of International Development

Honorable members of the standing committee on foreign affairs and defense Honorable Ditte Egnell, Head of section for the Horn of Africa, Swedish Foreign Office Norwegian Civil Organizations 2019 Nobel Laureate Abiy Ahmed Ali

Ethiopian News Agency
2023