Ethiopia’s Ruling Coalition Council to Approve Executive Committee Decision
Borkena
November 18, 2019
As the executive committee meeting of Ethiopia’s ruling coalition, EPRDF, which is poised to be a single national party sooner rather than later, concludes its meeting, decisions from the meeting are sent to the party’s council for approval. If approved,which is likely to happen, that marks the end of EPRDF. It will be a new party, with a new brand but without its former master, TPLF.
In a social media update written in three languages (Amharic, English and Afan Oromo) on his own Facebook page, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that the meeting over the past three days concluded bringing leadership from various parties within the coalition more closer. “I am very happy about it.” he said.
In the last day of the meeting, the executive committee discussed and approved bylaws of the new party to be officially announced soon. The program of the party, discussed on the second day of the meeting, is “designed to take all segments of society forward,” Abiy said in his update. And he described the meeting and circumstances under which decisions were made regarding party merger and political, social and economic program of the party as “transparent and democratic”
It is now public that Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) opposed the merger and is perhaps going its way. If that happens, it may mean, at least temporarily, the organization has to reduce itself to an opposition party at the Federal level although it is running the administration in Tigray. But all that is to be seen in the weeks to come.
In the past, the organization appeared to have not overtly against the merger of various parties that constituted the coalition for more than 28 years.
Ethiopian state-owned television, Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC), was airing video clips of EPRDF conferences since the late 1990’s. The videos attest that TPLF was not openly against merger of coalition parties. In one of the clips, the late Meles Zenawi who was also chairman of Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) talks about the reason why what the umbrella organization calls “support organizations” ( or Agar organizations) could not join EPRDF as full member with similar rights like the rest of the member parties in the coalition. “In the areas where these parties operate,” said Meles referring to the parts of Ethiopia where support organizations run local governments, “there is no social base for revolutionary democracy because they are mostly pastoralists.” He was referring to regions like Afar, Benishangul, Gambella, Somali and Harari regions. Meles Zenawi concluded his statement in the clip saying that these parties will join EPRDF as full members when the society in their respective region becomes reaches a point when it is conducive to revolutionary democracy.
Another influential TPLF member, Seyoum Mesfin who has served as Ethiopia’s foreign minister for nearly two decades, said during the ruling coalition’s congress, as seen in another video clip that EBC aired, “…it may not mean that EPRDF will necessarily uses its current program if the merger is to happen…” which will bring “support political organizations” from the five areas mentioned above.
On what grounds is now TPLF opposing the merger? The tone is a bit different. TPLF believes that the parties under EPRDF don’t have, among other things, similar ideology and hence unity of purpose.
TPLF claims, at least on the surface, that EPRDF should adhere to revolutionary democratic ideology “with which the ruling party won the last national election.” But on a deeper level, it is the anger from the loss of power and dominance in the central government that seem to be influencing the organization to be a political irate.
The rest of the political organizations within EPRDF on the other hand have agreed, based on core agenda discussed in the past three days, the party is adopting capitalistic ideology.
Apart from most of the member parties in the erstwhile coalition, opposition parties in the country, for example Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice Party, see the move along the line of merger within the ruling coalition in a positive light. Yeshiwas Assefa, the party’s organization affairs head, is cited as saying that it is an indication that the country wants to abandon to move along ethnic political orbit. “Political parties should compete not the basis of ethnicity, religion or which part of the region they came from but on the basis of ideas that they generate,” he said as reported by DW Amharic.
November 18, 2019
As the executive committee meeting of Ethiopia’s ruling coalition, EPRDF, which is poised to be a single national party sooner rather than later, concludes its meeting, decisions from the meeting are sent to the party’s council for approval. If approved,which is likely to happen, that marks the end of EPRDF. It will be a new party, with a new brand but without its former master, TPLF.
In a social media update written in three languages (Amharic, English and Afan Oromo) on his own Facebook page, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that the meeting over the past three days concluded bringing leadership from various parties within the coalition more closer. “I am very happy about it.” he said.
In the last day of the meeting, the executive committee discussed and approved bylaws of the new party to be officially announced soon. The program of the party, discussed on the second day of the meeting, is “designed to take all segments of society forward,” Abiy said in his update. And he described the meeting and circumstances under which decisions were made regarding party merger and political, social and economic program of the party as “transparent and democratic”
It is now public that Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) opposed the merger and is perhaps going its way. If that happens, it may mean, at least temporarily, the organization has to reduce itself to an opposition party at the Federal level although it is running the administration in Tigray. But all that is to be seen in the weeks to come.
In the past, the organization appeared to have not overtly against the merger of various parties that constituted the coalition for more than 28 years.
Ethiopian state-owned television, Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC), was airing video clips of EPRDF conferences since the late 1990’s. The videos attest that TPLF was not openly against merger of coalition parties. In one of the clips, the late Meles Zenawi who was also chairman of Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) talks about the reason why what the umbrella organization calls “support organizations” ( or Agar organizations) could not join EPRDF as full member with similar rights like the rest of the member parties in the coalition. “In the areas where these parties operate,” said Meles referring to the parts of Ethiopia where support organizations run local governments, “there is no social base for revolutionary democracy because they are mostly pastoralists.” He was referring to regions like Afar, Benishangul, Gambella, Somali and Harari regions. Meles Zenawi concluded his statement in the clip saying that these parties will join EPRDF as full members when the society in their respective region becomes reaches a point when it is conducive to revolutionary democracy.
Another influential TPLF member, Seyoum Mesfin who has served as Ethiopia’s foreign minister for nearly two decades, said during the ruling coalition’s congress, as seen in another video clip that EBC aired, “…it may not mean that EPRDF will necessarily uses its current program if the merger is to happen…” which will bring “support political organizations” from the five areas mentioned above.
On what grounds is now TPLF opposing the merger? The tone is a bit different. TPLF believes that the parties under EPRDF don’t have, among other things, similar ideology and hence unity of purpose.
TPLF claims, at least on the surface, that EPRDF should adhere to revolutionary democratic ideology “with which the ruling party won the last national election.” But on a deeper level, it is the anger from the loss of power and dominance in the central government that seem to be influencing the organization to be a political irate.
The rest of the political organizations within EPRDF on the other hand have agreed, based on core agenda discussed in the past three days, the party is adopting capitalistic ideology.
Apart from most of the member parties in the erstwhile coalition, opposition parties in the country, for example Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice Party, see the move along the line of merger within the ruling coalition in a positive light. Yeshiwas Assefa, the party’s organization affairs head, is cited as saying that it is an indication that the country wants to abandon to move along ethnic political orbit. “Political parties should compete not the basis of ethnicity, religion or which part of the region they came from but on the basis of ideas that they generate,” he said as reported by DW Amharic.
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