Seminar Held on State Formation in Ethiopian Context

Addis Ababa July 9/2019 Discussing state formation in federations, Center for Federalism and Governance Studies Director at Addis Ababa University, Zemelak Ayele pointed out the need to learn from experiences of other countries.

He stressed that “inclusive discussions about matters of state formation are crucial, especially in the Ethiopian context.”

The scholar added that every stakeholder should be part of state formation, including the concerned ethnic group, the region, and the federal government.

Zemelak stated that decisions reached after adequate discussions can only bring lasting solutions with regard to requests to forming own state.

Presenting paper on State Formation within Ethiopian Federation: Legal and Practical Issues, College of Law and Governance Studies, Getachew Assefa said unclear justifications for the formation of existing regions have led to the rise of self-determination.

He noted that the prevailing constitution does not have clear power sharing scheme to represent regional minority.

Thus, Getachew pointed out that these have become push factors for the emergence of claims.

Panelists and participants have emphasized on the need to exhaustively discuss all issues in an inclusive way in order to bring about lasting solution to emerging state formation.   

The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) and Addis Ababa University organized the seminar.