Ethiopians Ready to Choose Their Representatives

  BY SOLOMON DIBABA

The 6th National Election will be conducted in a couple of days under the back drop of all the previous five national elections that were beleaguered with complex and conflictual conditions in that all failed to express the peoples free, fair, democratic and credible elections.

The electoral process of the imperial feudal regime was organized as a bicameral parliament in 1931 and the Revised Constitution of 1954 as a gift from the Emperor to the peoples of Ethiopia in such a way that citizens were nominally invited to the polling stations only to elect members of the chamber of deputies and chamber of the Senate which is directly appointed by the emperor from among the aristocrats, appointed by Emperor from among the dignitaries (Mekuanent) who had been serving longer as princes or ministers, judges or army leaders. There were no parties worthy of the name. Here the sovereign power was vested in the personality of the Emperor.

The Derge set up a new constitution in 1987which was supposedly based on the dictatorship of the working class based on Marxis-Leninist ideology. There were no proposition parties and during the elections members of the same party competed against each other although they were already designated on party lines to the Beherawi Shengo or National Assembly.

The combination of unitary system of government and unitary party system which was dominated by members of the military who turned civilians. This was a very weak and subservient election board which has never acted as an independent body. There was a close correlation between the National Assembly and the party structure as the leading members of the Workers Party of Ethiopia were also represented in the National Assembly.

The 1994 Constitution which provided for the establishment of a federal government in the country proclaimed the nations, nationalities and peoples of the country as custodians of the sovereign power and enacted for the establishment of a two house Parliament namely House of Peoples Representatives and House of Federation. However, the parliaments were weak and only served the interest of the TPLF party under the guise of EPRDF which was an umbrella organization of four kings making parties.

Through the five series of elections conducted since 1994, the parliaments were dominated by the TPLF& EPRDF ideologues who preached revolutionary democracy which ended up in the autocracy of TPLF dominated political system which was never democratic nor revolutionary.

The collapse of the EPRDF coalition triggered by widespread unrests and uprisings marred with conflicts gave rise to the reformist group in the Front ushering a new era of national reform that kick started three years back with a range reforms in the political, juridical, economic, and social sectors reforms in the areas of human rights of inmates and gender representation and sensitivity in the political system.

The introduction of structural reforms in the executive body and austerity measures taken to curb the onset of COVID-19 along with corrective measures taken to accelerate the construction of GERD, citizens’ rights focused foreign policy and diplomacy, specific attempts made in improving the fiscal and monetary reforms, establishment of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) as a neutral body are only very few of the achievements of the reform program.

However, the reform programs were met with numerous challenges and pierce hate based opposition in every aspect of the socio-economic and political developments in the country. In order to fulfil their desire of plunging the Horn of Africa onto a region of furry and fire, TPLF staged an unprecedented attack on a restive Northern Command of the Ethiopian Army killing and molesting members of the armed forces who were working from dawn to dusk in supporting the entire livelihood of citizens in Tigray for over two years.

They destroyed the social fabric in Tigray by causing displacements across the region in the most atrocious fascistic act only comparable to the Italian aggression on Ethiopia. They were out to destroy Ethiopia if they do not rule it under their tyrannical leadership.

In their heinous crimes they were not alone. They were supported by the international media who were commercializing on the plight of the citizens in Tigray and who were joyfully ready to support the disruption of the construction of GERD in collaboration with Egypt and Sudan with their selfish strategy of after me the deluge. The international media fed the western powers to a total misconception of the reality in Tigray and this led to the unexpected and historically and diplomatically wrong decision by the US Senate declaring sanctions on Ethiopia and indirectly on the security and safety of the Horn of Africa and the US interest in the region.

The US and EU threatened to destroy a democratic process and the corresponding election in the country by forwarding false doubts that the election will be undemocratic and could be rigged without even waiting for the results and reports from the international and local observers.

Regrettably enough the current and previous US administrations are poised to control the governorship and administration of this country under the guise of quest for human rights and relief supplies which the government of Ethiopia is accomplishing before the eyes of the international community.

Ethiopia was forced to face the challenges of COVID-19 which incidentally led to the rescheduling of the 6th National Election which also forced the country to engage in economic austerity measures which proved to be successful.

TPLF masterminded interethnic conflicts that led to the loss of lives and massive public and private property and were engaged in crimes against humanity in Mai Kadra, Humera, Metekel and other areas of the country. They masterminded the atrocities between Ethiopian Somali and citizens in Oromia to destroy the entire social order in the country.

Conducting the 6th National Election in Ethiopia is not only highly critical but also for the entire Horn of Africa and the continent. That is why the peoples of Ethiopia are more than ever determined to conduct the 6th National Election in the most peaceful, credible and democratic manner. The wishes of the international media who are depicting Ethiopia as a hell on earth will soon be foiled as Ethiopia will enter into a new stage of hope and national development with the effort of the upcoming government and the heroic armed forces and the peoples of Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is currently inaugurating hundreds of development projects across the country under the leadership of the government. The changing face of Addis Ababa and the regional towns is a living witness to this that nobody can deny. Ethiopia will reportedly reduce inflation to a single digit by the next fiscal year and is expected to register more than 8% economic growth in the next fiscal year.

The western powers and local adversaries of the country who underestimate Ethiopia are expected to know that the nation will continue to shine in Africa by keeping peace, sharing energy resources, fighting climate change and connecting Africa with airlines, land and rail transport.

The 6th National Election is an occasions on which Ethiopia will herald the startup of developed, peaceful and friendly Ethiopia that visitors from around the world are expected to see.