#Ethiopia

Sudan rejects Ethiopia proposal to sign Nile mega-dam agreement

Sudan calls on Ethiopia, Egypt to resume talks immediately over the controversial dam amid high tensions.

Tensions have been high in the Nile basin ever since Ethiopia broke ground on the dam project in 2011 [Reuters]

Sudan has rejected an Ethiopian proposal to sign an initial agreement greenlighting the filling of a controversial mega-dam, calling its neighbour to resume the stalled United States-brokered negotiations on the issue.

On Tuesday, Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said he refused to sign a "partial agreement" for the dam's filling due to the absence of coordinated planning and outstanding "technical and legal issues" dealing with the dam's "environmental and social impacts".

More:

• Could mega-dams kill the mighty River Nile?

• Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan resume talks over disputed Nile dam

• Trump calls Egypt's Sisi, backs talks on disputed dam on Nile

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had urged Hamdok to sign the agreement.

Sudan and Egypt fear the disputed $4.6bn dam on the Nile will trap their essential water supplies once it starts being filled in July as planned by Ethiopia.

In a letter to his Ethiopian counterpart, Hamdok also stressed the need to reach an agreement among Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia before the project's completion, according to Sudan’s state-run news agency.

He urged the parties to resume talks immediately.

Meanwhile, Hamed Saleh, Sudan's chief negotiator in talks on the dam facilitated by the US administration, said: "Most of the issues at play ... cannot be separated ... including long-term environmental and social impacts."

Bellicose rhetoric

Tensions have been high in the Nile basin ever since Ethiopia broke ground on the project in 2011. Bellicose rhetoric, including the Ethiopian prime minister’s warnings of possible military action last year, have turned the dam into an explosive issue.

Ethiopia says the dam is crucial for its economy, while Egypt fears it will disrupt the river that provides almost all of its water. Sudan hopes the dam will provide much-needed electricity and help regulate flooding.

The US Treasury Department and the World Bank stepped in as observers last year to facilitate talks among the three countries after negotiations repeatedly failed.

Last week, in Egypt's latest bid to gain support from the international community, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said he sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council about the dam, raising alarm about Ethiopia's unilateral moves.

The 6,600-kilometre-long (3,900-mile) Nile is a lifeline supplying water and electricity to the 10 countries it traverses.

Its main tributaries, the White and Blue Niles, converge in the Sudanese capital Khartoum before flowing north through Egypt to drain into the Mediterranean Sea.

Source; Aljezeera

#Ethiopia

By Tiruneh Gamtaa

Miseensota KFO irratti hidhan hammata jira

1. Ob. Abirhaam Dhi'aannoo, I/A koree KFO godina Wallagga Lixaa gaafa 17/10/2011 irraa eegalee hidhame jira.
2. Ob. Fiqaaduu Ayyaanaa miseensa koree KFO giddu galeessafi qindeessa koree godina Wallagga Baha namoota 15 biroo wajjin waajjira barnoota keessatti gaafa 24/08/2012 irraa eegalee hidhame jira.
3. Ob. Abboomaa Daggafaa I/gaafataman waajjira KFO godina Shawaa Bahaa maqaa namni dhuunfa tokko iyyateera jedhamen gaafaa 29/08/2012 irraa eegalee magaalaa Bishooftuu keessatti hidhame jira.
4. Miseensoti koree KFO godina Harargee Lixaa afur guyyoota 11 hidhamanii wabiin gadi lakkifamaniiru.
5. Qindeesitooti koree KFO ob. Obsaa Hasan fi Amaan Godaanaa akkuma duraan duubatti aanalee Daaddar (Harargee Bahaa) fi Naansaboo (Arsii Lixaa) miiltoota isaani wajjin hidhamani hiikamaniiru.
6. Ob. Keerodiin Ibiraahim miseensi KFO aanaa Algee Saachii magaalaa Suphee (godina Iluu Abbaa Boor) hidhamee haa hikamu malee qabeenyi dhuunfasa, mootar biskileetiin humna mootummaa achi jirun fudhatamusa gabaasi nagaheera.
7. Ob. Mohammad Xahaa aanaa Beddellee (godina Buunnoo Beddellee) qabamee halkan lama reebamee gadi lakkifameera. Achuma godina sana aanaa Daaphoo keessatti miseensa KFO hin ta'iin malee ob. Kadiroo Birhaanuu kan haala nama gadisiisuun ajjeefameera.
8. Godina Shawaa Kibba Lixaa aanaa Sadan Sooddoo keessatti miseensoti 17 baatii tokko ol hidhamani wabiin hiikamaniiru.

#Ethiopia

ብልጽግና ወይስ መልኩን የቀየረ ጭቆና?
በ Sadik Ahmed
ህወሃት መራሹን ስርዓት ስንታገል «የባሰ አታምጣ» በሚሉት የፍርሃት ቅኝት የነበረው ቅዋሜ አይረሳም።ቅዋሜው ከኢትዮጵያ እስከ አሜሪካ የዘለገ ነበር።የሰዎች ሐሳብን የመግለጽ የተከበረባት አሜሪካ ዜግነት የወሰዱ ትውልደ ኢትዮጵያውያን እንኳ ሳይቀር አገር የመግባትና የመውጣትን መብት ላለማጣት በፍርሃት መዘፈቃቸው የቅርብ ግዜ ትዝታ ነው።በምድረ-አሜሪካ መንገድ ላይ ሲያኑን አቅጣጫ የሚቀይ፣ስንደውልላቸው በፍርሃት የሚርዱ ወይም በማህበራዊ ሚዲያ የለጠፉትን ፎቶግራፍ ላይክ ስናረግላቸው እንደ እርግማን የሚቆጥሩትን ስናስታውስ ፈገግ ከማለት ውጪ አማራጭ የለንም።

መሬት ላይ ጭቆናን ፊት ለፊት እየተጋፈጡ መስዋእትነት እየከፍሉ የሚታገሉ ጀግኖች ሚናን ከግምት ውስጥ በማስገባት ሚናችንን አምብዛም የጎላ ነበር ለማለት ብንቸገርም አገር የመግባት መብትን ማጣት፣የቤተሰቦቻችን በፍርሃትና በሰቆቃ በመኖር ያሳለፉት ግዜ ግን የሚረሳ አይደለም።ህዝብ በነቂስ የተሳተፈበት ትግል ውጤት አመጣ።ህወሃት መራሹ ቡድን ጓዙን ጠቅልሎ ወደ መቀሌ አቀና።እርቅና ሰላምን ለማውረድ ተነሳሽነቱ ጎላ።የህወሃትን ሚና የቀነሰው ኢህአዴግ ተሳስቼያለሁ፣አጥፍቻለሁ፣ህዝብ ይማረኝና ተሃድሶአዊ ለውጥን አመጣለሁ እነርሱ «የቀን ጅብ ናቸው» ሲልም ተናዘዘ።

የተሰደደው ወደ አገር ገባ።እኛም እድሉን አግኝተን ለሳምንታት ያልተረጋጋች ኢትዮጵያን አይተን ተመለስን።ተስፋና ስጋት ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ አብረው እየተጓዙ ባለበት አኳሗን ብሔራዊ መግባባትና ይቅር መባባሉ ወደ መሬት በተግባር መውረድ አልቻሉም።በሁሉም መስክ የዘር የበላይነት ለማንገስ የሚደረጉት ፍትጊያዎች ህዝብ እንዲቋሰል አደረጉትና «የባሰውን አታምጣ» የሚለው ስሌት ጎልቶ ወጣ።ተሃድሶአዊ ለውጡ ደብዝዞ መደመር ገዘፈ።ከመደመር ደግሞ «ብልጽግና» ወደ ሚሉት አዲስ ትርክት ተገባ።

ብልጽግና በ‹የነ ቶሎ ቶሎ ቤት ግድግዳው ሰምበሌጥ› አምስት ህጋዊ አመታትን ለመጎናጸፍ ተጣደፈ።ሌላው ቀርቶ ከበይነ-መረብ ያወረደው አዲሱ አርማ የምእራብ አገራት አብያተ-ክርስቲያናት የሚጠቀሙበት ለመሆኑ ለማገናዘብ ግድ አላለውም።የገንዘብ መዋጮው ደራ።በግዳጅ ገንዘብ አዋጡ እየተባልን ነው የሚል እሮሮ ይሰማ ጀመር።የምርጫ ቦርድ ወደ ብልጽግና ተዘንብሎ መዝረክረኩ ቀጥሎ ሳለ ኮሮና ቫይረስ መጣና ስሌቱ ዳግም ተቀየረ።

ከኢህአዴግነት ወደ ብልጽግና የተሸጋገረውን የፖለቲካ ቡድን በስልጣን ላይ ለተወሰነ ግዜ እንዲቆይ በህገ-መንግስት አተገባበር ላይ ክርክሮች እየተደረጉ ነው።ይህ መልካም ነው።ህወሃት የተቀነሰበት ኢህአዴግ ግዜው ቢያበቃም ኢትዮጵያ ካለችበት ነባራዊ ሁኔታ አንጻር ሁነኛ ምርጫ የማድረግ አቅም እስኪኖር ድረስ በመግባባት ላይ በተመሰረተ አግባብ በሐላፊነት እንዲቀጥል ማድረጉ ሚዛን ይደፋል ቢባል የእብለት አይሆንም።

ኢህአዴግ ሊወድቅ ሲል ተሃድሶአዊ ለውጥን ለማስፈንና ለማሻገር እድል የተሰጠው የአሁኑ ብልጽግና በጉልበትና በማስፈራራት ቀጥላለሁ ካለ የህዝብን ሰቆቃ ከማፋፋምና ህዝባዊ አመጽን ከመውለድ በስተቀር ስኬትን እንደማይጎናጸፍ ማሳሰቡም ግድ ነው።ይህ አጋጣሚ የተዘነጋውን ብሔራዊ መግባባትና እርቅ የሚተገበርበት ቢሆን ኢትዮጵያ ለወደፊት የሚገጥሟትን ፈተናዎች ታልፍ ዘንድ አጋዥ ይሆናል የሚል እምነት አለ።

ህዝቡ ጭቆናን ለማስቀረት ታግሏል።የህይወት መስዋትነት ከፍሏል።የወጣት ሰማእታት ደም አልደረቀም።‹በእንቅርት ላይ ጆሮ ደግፍ› እንዲሉ ባለው የምጣኔ-ሐብት ችግር ላይ አገሪቷ ውስጥ ዘርን መሰረት ያደርገው ጥቃትም እልባት አላገኘም።መንግስት የሚያደርገው እስር ዛሬም አልተቋረጠም።ከሁለት አመታት በፊት ተነቃንቆ የነበረው ኢህአዴጋዊ አምባገነናዊት ስሙን በመቀየር መሰረቱ ማጠንከር ጀምሯል።ፈላጭ ቆራጭ በሆኑት አጼ-ሐይለስላሴ፣ኮሎኔል መንግስቱ ሐይለማሪያምና መለስ ዜናዊ የተገዛችዋ ኢትዮጵያ አሁንም የሚያሻት «ግለሰባዊ ግዝፈት ነው» የሚል መከራከሪያ የሚያቀርቡ የትግል አጋሮቻችንን ማስተዋሉ ግር ያሰኛል።የሙሴን በትር የጨበጠ ፖለቲከኛ በዘመናችን አለ ተብሎ አይታሰብም። ልክ የሆሊውድ እውቅ ተዋኒያን ገጽታቸውን በሌሎች ላይ አስርጸው ተመላኪ እንደሚሆኑት ሁሉ ለኢትዮጵያ ሁለንተናዊ ችግሮች መፍትሔን ለጋሽ የሆነ ግለሰብ እንዳለ ለማሳየት የሚደረገው ወከባ ትውልድን አምካኝ ነው።ሰላሙንና ደህንነቱ እንዳይዛባ ለፍትህ ጥሪዎች ‹ጆሮ ዳባ ልበስ› በማለት ‹እስኪያልፍ ያለፋልን› አምኖ የተቀበለው የህብረተሰባችን ክፍል ቁጥሩ ቀላል አይደለም።

የዘመናት ሰቆቃ ተቀርፎ ፍትህ የነገሰባትን ኢትዮጵያ የማየት ተስፋ ከሁለት አመት በፊት እንደ ጧት ጸሃይ ፈክቶ የነበረ ቢሆንም እኔ ልምራ፣እኔ የተሻለን አውቃለሁ፣የኔ ሐሳብ የተሻለ ነው የሚሉት ፖለቲካዊ ሽኩቻ ስጋት በመሆኑ የተስፋው ብርሃን እየደበዘዘ ነው።ህወሃት የሚባል አንድ የጋራ ጠላት የነበራቸው ታጋዮች ጣት መጠቋቆም ጀምረዋል።ያ የጋራ ጠላታቸው ትወናውን ትቶ ከመድረክ ላይ ቢወርድም በብእርስ ስሙ ደራሲ ሳይሆን አይቀርም የሚል ጥርጣሬ አለ።አሁን የነጻነት ታጋዮች እርስ በርሳቸው እየተናቆሩ ነው።የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ፍትህን ማግኘት አለበት በማለት የታገሉ፣የታሰሩ፣የተገረፉ፣በአሸባሪነት የተፈረጁ፣የተሰደዱና የለውጥ አሻራቸውን በትግሉ ላይ ያሰፈሩ የትግል አጋሮች በተለያየ ጎራ ውስጥ በመግባት ትግሉን መልሰው እየታገሉት ነው።

በመግቢያው ላይ እንደተጠቀሰው በምድረ-አሜሪካ እኛን በአካልም ይሁን በስልክም ሰላም ለማለት የሚሰጉ፣ፎቶ በማህበራዊ ሚዲያ ሲለጥፉ ላይክ ስናረግላቸው የሚርበተበቱ፣ባጋጣሚ ፎቶ ከኛ ጋር ተነስተው እባክህን ፎቶውን ከስልክህ ላይ ዲሊት አርግልኝ የሚሉ ዛሬ ደርሶ ታጋይ፣ዛሬ ወዶ-ገብ ካድሬ ሲሆኑ እያስተዋልን ነው።ብዙዎች ጭቆናን እየታገሉ «ድምጻችን ይሰማ» በማለት ፊት ለፊት ሲታዩ ሰባት አመት ያሉበት የማይታወቅ፤ ድምጻቸው በለሆሳስ እንኳ ያልተሰማ ዛሬ እንደገደል ማሚቱ ይጮሃሉ።ነገ የቁርጥ ቀን ሲመጣ የሚበትኑ ዛሬ ፊት ለፊት ሆነው የሚጮሁላትን ሰዎችን ኢትዮጵያ አግኝታለች።ነገ አገርን የማዳን ደወል ዳግም እስኪደውል ድረስ ሐይልን ለመቆጠብ የተገደዱ ብዙ የቁርጥ ቀን ልጆችን ኢትዮጵያ አፍርታለች።በዚህ ፈታኝ ወቅት ሚናን «በጥሞና» መፈተሹ ግድ ሆኗል።የጥሞና ግዜም ያሻል።

ለማጠቃለል ዜጎች ከ50 አመት በላይ የታገሉበትን የብሔር ትግል በ«ብልጽግና» ረጅም ገመድ እግር-ትወርች መጠፈር አይቻልም።የዜግነት ፖለቲካን የሚያቀነቅነውን «አሃዳዊ» ብሎ ማግለል አይቻልም።አዛውንት ህወሃቶችን በጡረታ እንዲቀመጡ አርጎ የትግራይ ወጣት በአገሩ ጉዳዮች ላይ በትጋት እንዲሳተፍ ማድረጉ ተገቢ ነው።ጥያቄው ሁለትና ከዚያም በላይ የሆኑ ተገዳዳሪ ሐይላትን ወደ መሐል በማምጣት እንዴት «የኔ ሐሳብ ይበለጥ» ከሚሉት ፖለቲካዊ አጣብቂኝ እንዲወጡ ማድረግ ይቻላል ነው።ይህ ደግሞ አገርን ከፖለቲካዊ ጥቅም በላይ መውደድን ይጠይቃል። ብሔራዊ መግባባትን ማስፈኑ ተረስቷል።ስለዚህ ሁሉንም አመለካከት ያማከለ ውይይትን ኢትዮጵያ ከመቸውም ግዜ በላይ ትሻለች።

27 አመት የአገሩን ህዝብ የጨቆነ የጎረቤት አገሩ የኤርትራ መንግስት ለኢትዮጵያ ችግሮች መፍትሄን አምጪ ሊሆን አይችልም።ጥሎ ማለፍና የሴራ ፖለቲካ ትውልድን ከማክሰር ውጪ ያለንበትን ዘመን አይመጥኑምና አገር ፖለቲካዊ ቤተ-ሙከራ አለመሆኗን እንወቅ።በተለይ በነጻነት ሰርቶ መኖር በሚቻልባቸው አውሮፓና አሜሪካ ያሉ የያኔ የትግል አጋሮች የአሁን የብልጽግና-ኢህአዴግ ምስለኔዎች የታገሉበትን መርህ አክባሪ ይሆኑ ዘንድ ይጠበቃል።ለሰፊው ህዝብ ጥቅም ተቆርቋሪ በመሆን የህሊና ነጻነታቸውን ከሟሟት እንዲቆጠቡም ይመከራል።ስለምን? ትግላቸውን በመታገላቸው ከተጠያቂነት አይድኑምና።

ልብ ያለው ልብ ይበል!

#Ethiopia

NEWS: PM ABIY ISSUES WARNING OF DECISIVE ACTIONS TO PROTECT COUNTRY, CONSTITUTION; SAYS GOV’T TO STAY PUT UNTIL ELECTIONS

 addisstandard /  May 7, 2020 /  743

PM Abiy also said the government will stay put until the threat from COVID-19 was contained and elections were held.

ADDIS STANDARD STAFFS

Addis Abeba, May 07/2020 – In a video message released this morning Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed issued a stern warning that his government will be forced to take all the actions against those who are engaged in illegal political activities and acts that are threatening to violate the constitution and constitutional order in Ethiopia. The Prime Minister said his government will do anything necessary to protect and defend the safety of the country and its people. He also said that the government will stay put until the threat from COVID-19 was contained and elections were held.

PM Abiy also defended the Parliament’s decision on May 05 to approve the option of constitutional interpretation out of the four options the government tabled to navigate through an impending constitutional crisis. The government’s decision to present the four options was triggered by the decision by the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) to postpone this August 2020 general election due to the COVID-19.

The Prime Minister’s remark came in the midst of a heated debate among various representatives of opposition politicians and their parties expressing varied views, including opposing the parliament’s decision to opt for constitutional interpretation.

PM Abiy explained that before tabling the four options to the Parliament, his government has conducted extensive deliberations from three separate and independent constitutional lawyers and scholars to come up with alternatives before coming together to present their alternatives. He also said that various constitutional scholars have been expressing their differing views through media reflecting on options ranging from state of emergency to constitutional amendment and constitutional interpretation and expressed his appreciation to those who are engaged in civilized debates to reach at solutions.

His government’s decision to opt for constitutional interpretation was, according to him, aimed at nurturing the culture of enriching the constitution through constitutionally navigable means. The options presented by Deputy Attorney General Dr. Gedion Timotiwos were Dissolving the Parliament; Declaring a State of Emergency; Amending the Constitution; and seeking Constitutional Interpretation.

Opposition parties’ reactions

In a joint statement statement released on May 04, a day before the parliament’s session, seven opposition political parties have forwarded a three points “principles [that] should be put into practice”: deliberations and negotiations that should involve all political parties which are registered and are qualified to participate in the 2020 elections; deliberation and negotiation facilitated by neutral entities with no direct involvement in electoral affairs; and reaching at an agreement which should be a binding agreement. The parties include: Oromo Liberation Front, Ogaden National Liberation Front, Oromo Federalist Congress, Agaw National Congress, Mocha Democratic Party, Kaffa Green Party and Arena Tigray for Democracy and Sovereignty.

Similarly, a statement released by Political Parties Joint Council, a council of several opposition political parties, presented five points suggestion including an all-inclusive dialogue between the government and all opposition political parties. The Council cautioned that the government and the parliament bear a big responsibility to ensure the participation of all stakeholders as the challenges facing the country are as much political and cannot be addressed through legal and constitutional means only.

In discussion aired on Oromo Media Network (OMN) long-time opposition party leader Lidetu Ayalew and OFC member Jawar Mohammed have warned that unless the government opts for an all-inclusive dialogue with political parties and other stakeholders to try to find a way out, the legitimacy of the incumbent will be impossible to defend as it would become illegitimate past end of September 2020, the five year constitutional term limit to the incumbent. Both of them have dismissed all the four options tabled by the government as unconstitutional. In a separate opinion published on Addis Standard, Jawar Mohammed argued that “political parties legally registered and qualified to contest the now postponed election could deliberate, debate and bargain to reach at an agreement that serves during the interim period.” The process, he said, “needs to be organized by an independent body with no direct partisan interest in the outcome” and proposed “the office of the President and the Supreme Court” to take the initiative and lead the deliberations.

In a seven page statement released on May 06, Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice (Ezema), led by Berhanu Nega (PhD), also said its preferred solution was to opt for constitutional amendment to enable the Parliament guarantee the continuation of the incumbent as an interim government until elections were held. Ezema suggested amending Article 58/3 of the constitution which deals with the term limits of the Parliament.

Global experiences

Prime Minister Abiy cited several examples from countries such as Kenya, South Africa, France, Germany, Canada, India, Columbia and USA where constitutional deadlocks in the past have been resolved through constitutional interpretations within the bounds of constitutionalism. He issued a stern warning that any other claim by opposition political parties to come to the helm of power without elections was unacceptable, triggers chaos and violence; such acts also breach not only the country’s constitution but international laws such as African Charter on Democracy, Election and Governance.

The Prime Minister asserted that according to Article 50 of the constitution, the government was the entity mandated to protect and defend the safety and security of Ethiopians and the country; he added that the government was ready to exercise this mandate by all means necessary against those vying to control state power through chaos, and will not tolerate any group vying to do so at a time when the country was struggling to contain the spread and effects of COVID-19, and at a time when the country’s sovereignty was exposed to threats. The government is well prepared from all directions, he said.

However, despite asserting the need for constitutional interpretation out of all options presented, the Prime Minister preempted that his government was the only legitimate government to govern the country until the threat from COVID-19 was mitigated and elections were conducted. Hence he dismissed groups calling for a transitional government as not only illegal, but also dangerous and defended that the governing Prosperity Party (PP) was a legitimate party that didn’t come through revolution but reform. There are no moral grounds to argue for a transitional government while the party that was legitimately elected is still in power, he warned. AS

በድሮ ግዜ የመካ አቀማመጥ እና የነብዩ መሃመድ( ስ፣አ፣ወ )ባልደረቦች የመኖሪይያ አከባቢ የምያሳይ ቪድዮ

#Ethiopia

TPLF Calls for New Political Pact to Clear Through Electoral Debacle

May 5 , 2020

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Getachew Reda, a political bureau member of the TPLF and Awelu Abdu, head of Public & Foreign Relations of the Prosperity Party.

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The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) has called for a separate entity to be created through a new political pact to steer clear of the looming deadlock over the conduct of the upcoming national elections. This is in sharp contrast to the direction the federal government has taken, seeking a constitutional interpretation of the clause that concerns the polling schedule.

In a statement issued yesterday, the TPLF declared that the Prosperity Party (PP) has no legitimacy to hold elections and proposed the establishment of a 'political entity' that will be composed of members from different political parties and will be tasked with overseeing the election process.

"We'd like to see another political arrangement that would oversee this,” Getachew Reda, a political bureau member of the TPLF, told Fortune.

This is not a proposition those in charge of the incumbent party are willing to digest, showing that both are heading to a standoff.

A five-point statement, issued after a three-day meeting of the political bureau of the TPLF held between May 1 and 3, 2020, also called for a national dialogue and highlighted its determination to hold regional elections if elections are postponed outside of the constitutional framework. The party called the move to postpone elections on the grounds of fighting Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) the final act in undermining the constitutional order. For the TPLF, the outbreak of COVID-19 is an "excuse rather than a cause for postponing the elections."

The TPLF questioned the powers of the House of Federation to interpret the Constitution as an instrument "used to prolong the term in office" of the incumbent political party.

"The responsibility of the House is to clarify constitutional provisions and not to rewrite them," said the statement.

“We still can work on a deferred election but it can only be done within the framework of the Constitution,” Getachew said.

A potential constitutional solution would be to dissolve the parliament and hold elections in the coming six months, according to Getachew. The TPLF also called into question the legitimacy of the Prosperity Party, warning that the incumbent party will bring Ethiopia to the brink of disaster after October 3, 2020.

Awelu Abdu, head of Public & Foreign Relations of the Prosperity Party, strongly challenged this assertion. He argues that PP is a legitimate governing party since the EPRDF was laid to rest according to the provisions of its by-laws.

"All the rights and responsibilities of the Front have been transferred to the Prosperity Party, legally," Awelu told Fortune.

He believes that there is still a gap in the Constitution concerning electoral business.

"It isn't a crisis and the appropriate legal entities are handling this accordingly," Awelu said. "Any question of dealing with this outside of the legal framework is an attempt to grab power unconstitutionally and is being done by bodies that know they have no chance at the polls."

The TPLF says it wants to play its part to halt this crisis, but warned, "it is not willing to throw away any constitutional rights of the people of Tigray to govern themselves."

The statement says that the TPLF is prepared to hold elections at a regional level "in a manner that safeguards the constitutional rights of the people of Tigray and taking preventive measure against COVID-19."

“Tigray has an inalienable right to self-governance and it’s not going to be sacrificed on the altar of bureaucratic expediency," said Getachew, while addressing the constitutional framework that would allow the regional state to hold elections at a regional level.

Addisfortune

#Ethiopia

Requirements to Conduct Closed meeting in the House of peoples representatives
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-Article 58(5) of the FDRE constitution says the following on how to conduct meetings in the house

“Meetings of the House shall be public. The House may, however, hold a closed meeting at the request of the Executive or members of the House if such a request is supported by a decision of more than one-half of the members of the House.”

Then my question is - To hold a closed meeting in the house two requirements must be gratified

1- The executive or the house itself must request it and
2- it must be supported by majority ( 50+1)

- Did they really went through this procedure to hold a closed meeting or they just did to satisfy the request by Executive ( in our case the PM) ?

- Under House of Peoples' Representatives Working Procedures and Code of Conduct regulation number 2(2005) article 16 it says the following about closed meetings of the house :-

- “Where the members of the House or the Federal executive body request for a closed meeting of the House and if such a request is supported by more than half of the members of the House, a closed meeting may be held.

- why closed meeting then ?, what kind of business they wanna hide from the public?

Zak Kedir

#Ethiopian#Ellection

ሚያዝያ 26 ቀን 2012 ዓ/ም

በኮቪድ 19 ወረርሽኝ ምክንያት የ2012 የኢትዮጵያ ጠቅላላ ምርጫ ህገ-መንግስታዊ አጣብቂኝን ለመሻገር የሚረዳ የመፍትሄ አቅጣጫ

 

የኢትዮጵያ  ምርጫ  ቦርድ  በኮሮና ቫይረሰ  ወረርሽኝ  ምክንያት  የ2012  ጠቅላላ  ምርጫን  በተያዘለት  የጊዜ ሰሌዳ ማካሄድ እንደማይችል  መግለጹ ይታወሳል። ይህንኑ  ውሳኔ የሕዝብ  ተወካዮች  ምክር  ቤት አጽድቆታል።  በሕገ-መንግሥቱ  መሠረት   የመንግሥት የሥራ  ዘመን አምስት  (5) ዓመት ብቻ ስለሆነ አሁን ያለው መንግሥት  ከመስከረም  30/2013 በኋላ ሕጋዊነቱ ያበቃል። ይህን ታሳቢ በማድረግ ምርጫ ከመደረጉ በፊት የመንግሥት የሥራ ዘመን የሚያበቃ መሆኑ የሚያስከትለውን  ክፍተት ለመሙላት ያስችላል ያላቸውን አራት አማራጮች መንግሥት አቅርቧል። እኛ ስማችን በዚህ መግለጫ ግርጌ የተዘረዝርን የፖለቲካ ድርጅቶች በተፈጠረው የሕገ-መንግሥት ቀውስ እና መፍትሄ ሐሳቦች ተብለው የቀረቡትን  አማራጮች ገምግመን የሚከተለውን አቋም ይዘናል።

1. ሕገ-መንግሥቱ ሥልጣን በሕገ-መንግሥቱ መሠረት ብቻ መያዝ እንደሚቻል፣ ምርጫ በየአምስት ዓመቱ መደረግ እንዳለበት፣ የመንግሥት የሥራ ዘመን አምስት ዓመት ብቻ እንደሆነ በማያሻማ መንገድ አስቀምጧል። ምርጫ ቦርድ እንዳሳወቀው አሁን በሥራ ላይ ያለው  መንግሥት የሥራ ዘመን ከማብቃቱ በፊት ምርጫ ማካሄድ እንደማይቻል ስለገለጸ፣ ከመስከረም 30 በኋላ  ሀገርን ማሥተዳደር የሚያስችል  ሕጋዊ መሰረት ሊኖረው አይችልም።

2. በእኛ በኩል ከፊት ለፊታችን የተጋረጠውን ህገ መንግስታዊ ቀውስ ለመፍታት በመንግሥት የቀረቡትን አማራጮች በሚገባ ገምግመናል። ምርጫው በህገመንግስቱ በተሰጠው  የጊዜ ገደብ መደረግ ባለመቻሉ እና መተላለፉን ተከትሎ የቀረቡት አማራጮች አንዳቸውም የመንግሥትን የሥራ ዘመን ለማራዘም የሚያስችል ሕገ-መንግሥታዊ መከራከሪያ ማቅረብ እንዳልቻሉም ተገንዝበናል። የአስቸኳይ ጊዜ አዋጅ በማወጅ ምርጫን ማስተላለፍም ሆነ የመንግሥትን የሥራ ጊዜ ማራዘም ሕገ-መንግሥቱ  አይፈቅድም፡፡ በሌላም በኩል ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ በህገ መንግስቱ አንቀጽ 60 መሰረት ፓርላማውን መበተን የሚችሉት ምርጫን ከአምስት ዓመቱ የግዜ ቀነ ገደብ አስቀድሞ ወይም አሳጥሮ ለማካሄድ እንጂ መደበኛውን የምርጫ ግዜ ለማራዘም አይደለም። ሕገ-መንግሥቱን በማሻሻል የመንግስትን የስልጣን ዘመን ማራዘምም ሕገ-መንግሥታዊ መሠረት የሌለው ከመሆኑም ባሻገር መደበኛ  የምርጫ ግዜ ለማራዘም የሚደረገው የህግ ማሻሻል ሂደት ውስብስብ ስራዎችን የሚጠይቅ ፤ አለመግባባቶችን የሚፈጥር እና ሰፊ የሕዝብ ውይይት ሂደት የሚጠይቅ ነው፡፡ ይህንን ማድረግ ደግሞ አሁን ባለው የኮሮና ቫይረስ ምክንያት ፈጽሞ አይቻልም። በተጨማሪም ከዚህ በፊት ፍትሃዊና ነጻ ምርጫ ባልነበረበት ሁኔታ ሙሉ በሙሉ በአንድ ፓርቲ በተያዙ የፌዴራል እና የክልል ምክርቤቶች  ሕገ-መንግሥቱን ለማማሻሻል መሞከርም ሆነ በህገ መንግስቱ የሌለ አንቀጽ ለመተርጎም  መንቀሳቀስ የሚፈጠረውን ክፍተት ፍትሐዊ እና ቅቡልነት ባለው መልኩ ለመሙላት የሚጠቅም ሆኖ አላገኘነውም።  በአንድ ፓርቲ አባለት በተያዘ ምክርቤት በህገ-መንግስቱ ያልተካተተን ጉዳይ ተርጉሞ የመንግስትን የስራ ዘመን ማራዘም ቅቡልነትን የባሰ የሚሸረሽር እንጂ የሚያጠናክር አካሄድ አይደለም። 

3. እንደ አራተኛ አማራጭ የቀረበው ሕገ-መንግሥቱን የመተርጎም ሐሳብም ቢሆን  መፍትሄም ሊሆን አይችልም፡፡ ምክንያቱም የፌዴሬሽን ምክር ቤት ህገ-መንግስቱን ለመተርጎም ስልጣን ቢኖረውም በህገ-መንግሥቱ ሰፍረው ካሉት አንቀጾች ወስጥ ስልጣን ማስተላለፍንም ሆነ ምርጫን ማራዘም በሚመለከት ክርክር ያስነሱ አንቀጾች የሉም። ምርጫን ማስተላለፍንም ሆነ የመንግስት ስልጣንን ማራዘም የሚመለከት አንቀጽ ፈጽሞ በህገ-መንግስቱ ያልተካተቱ በመሆኑ ምክር ቤቱ  በህገ-መንግስቱ ያልተካተቱ ጉዳዮችን መተርጎም አይችልም።  

4. መፍትሔው በአንድ በኩል የኮሮና ቫይረስ አደጋን በጋራ እየተከላከልን እና በሌላ በኩል ለምርጫ እየተዘጋጀን ወረረሽኙ አልፎ (ተወግዶ) ምርጫ እስክናካሂድ ድረስ የሚፈጠረውን የመንግስት ስልጣን ክፍተት ለመሙላት የሚረዳ ሀገራዊ የፖለቲካ ስምምነት ላይ መደረስ ብቻ ነው ብለን አናምናለን። የሽግግር ወቅት የፖለቲካ አደረጃጀት የሚያስፈልግ መሆኑ ቢታወቅም አሁን ባለው ተጨባጭ ሁኔታ ይህን ማከናወን ቀላል እንደማይሆን እናምናለን። በመሆኑም አሁን ያለውን መንግስታዊ መዋቅር ተጠቅመን የዕለት ተዕለት የመንግስት ስራ ማከናወን አለበት ብለን እናምናለን።    የፖለቲካ መፍትሄ ነው ብለን የደርስንበትን በዝርዝር የሚገልጽ  ሰነድ ለሚመለከታቸው የመንግስት አካላትና የህግ አውጪው አካል ለማቅረብም ዝግጅታችንን አጠናቅቀናል። ጉዳዩ የሚመለከታቸው አካላትም በመንግስት በተገባው ቃል መሰረት የተፎካካሪ ፓርቲዎችን ለማወያየት ዝግጁ ናቸው ብለን በተስፋ እየተጠባበቅን ነው። 

5. ከዚህ ውጪ የሚወሰድ ማንኛውም እርምጃ ፖለቲካዊ፣ ህጋዊና  እና ሕዝባዊ ተቀባይነት ስለሌለው አገሪቱን ወደ ከፋ የፖለቲካ ቀውስና ብጥብጥ የሚወስድ ነው የሚል ስጋት አለን።  

ስለሆነም ቅቡልነት ያለው ስምምነት ላይ ለመድረስ የሚከተሉትን ወሳኝ መርሆች መከተል እንደሚኖርብን ለማስገንዘብ እንወዳለን፡-

1. ውይይቱ እና ድርድሩ የ2012 ምርጫን ለመወዳደር ተመዝግበው መስፈርት ያሟሉ የፖለቲካ ድርጅቶችንና ጥምረቶችን ብቻ ያሳተፈ መሆን አለበት፣

2. ውይይቱ እና ድርድሩ ገለልተኛ በሆነ አካል መመራት አለበት

3. በድርድሩ የሚደረሰው ስምምነት በሁሉም ወገን ተፈጻሚነት ያለው ( binding) መሆን አለበት።

የመግለጫው አካል ፓርቲዎች -የትብብር ለህብረ-ብሔር ዲሞክራሲያዊ ፊዴራሊዝም  አባል ድርጅቶች

1.-የኦሮሞ ነጻነት ግንባር

2-የኦጋዴን ብሔራዊ ነጻነት ግንባር

3.የኦሮሞ ፌዴራላዊ  ኮንግረስ

4.የአገው ብሔራዊ ሸንጎ

5. የሞቻ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ፓርቲ

6. አረና ትግራይ ለሉዓላዊነትና ለዲሞክራሲ ፓርቲ

7. ከፋ አረንጓዴ ፓርቲ

ሰላም ፣ነጻነትና  ዲሞክራሲ ለሁሉም ህዝቦች

J/ Daawud Ibsaaf qooda kaayuun dirqama.

#Ethiopian#Ellection

EWS ALERT: PARLIAMENT TO CONVENE FOR A SPECIAL MEETING TOMORROW TO APPROVE DIFFERED ELECTION ALTERNATIVES

 addisstandard /  May 4, 2020 

Photo: During the regular session of HoPR that took place at the meeting hall in the office of PM Abiy Ahmed, member of parliament referred the motion by NEBE to postpone the election to the House’s Legal, Justice and Administration Affairs Standing Committee

Addis Abeba, May 04/2020 – Members of the House of People’s Representatives (HoPR) will convene for the 3rd Special Meeting of the House tomorrow morning to approve one of the four alternatives presented by the government vis a vis Ethiopia’s differed election, HoPR said.

On April 29, the the ruling Prosperity Party (PP) presented four options as alternative to avert a possible constitutional crisis. The governing party’s alternatives which was presented at a meeting with opposition parties representatives include: Dissolving the Parliament; Declaring a State of Emergency; Amending the Constitution; and seeking Constitutional Interpretations.

This comes in the backdrop of a closed door meeting by PP’s Central Committee members on April 26 and 27 during which the four options were extensively discussed. Sources close to the matter told Addis Standard on conditions of anonymity that the Central Committee of PP has already opted for the fourth alternative: to seek constitutional interpretations.

Addis Standard@addisstandard

#Ethiopia: @FDREHOPR holding regular session to deliberate on 5 different agendas. Among them is the decision by @NEBEthiopia to postpone #EthioElection2020.
The House is expected to approve the decision & direct it to the relevant house standing committee for further scrutiny.

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On April 30 HoPR has approved NEBE’s decision to postpone the elections and referred the matter to the Legal, Justice and Administration Affairs Standing Committee of the House for further deliberations. Today, the House said its members were meeting tomorrow “to approve one of the four recommendations by the Standing Committee with regard to the election,” HoPR said.

The background of the current debate on the matter was preceded by the March 30 decision of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) to postpone the August 29 national elections. AS

#Ethiopian#Ellection

OPINION: A NEW APPROACH TO FORGE ETHIOPIA’S UNITY

 addisstandard /  May 4, 2020 

LEENCO LATA

Addis Abeba, May 04/2020 – Two approaches have been tried to date with the view to forging Ethiopia’s unity. Since both have proven unsustainable, it is high time to consider a third alternative. Both of the approaches that have been attempted to date have faulted their intended purposes on a number of grounds. However, explicating their various egregiousness is not the aim of this brief op-ed. What will be attempted here is looking at the premises on which they drew and argue that they happened to be unworkable and even ultimately counterproductive.

The earliest approach to forging Ethiopia’s unity was the one that lasted until 1991, replaced by an alternative one thereafter. Both of these approaches were premised on dividing Ethiopia’s sub-state nations or fanning discord among them. They may have served the purpose of prolonging the dominance of the successive ruling elites but they went nowhere close to uniting Ethiopia’s numerous sub-state nations.

The approach to forging Ethiopia’s unity that lasted until 1991 was premised on dividing Ethiopia’s sub-state nations except the one whose attributes (language, culture and history) were elevated to the National status merely by fiat. Particularly, administrative divisions of the country were conducted to serve the purpose of balkanizing the targeted sub-state nations.

Apparently, the proponents of this approach hoped that these communities would identify themselves with the artificial provinces and not by such attributes as language, culture and history. Practically, however, that did not happen. Instead, communities continued to identify themselves based on their languages, cultures and histories.

We ask the proponents of this approach: “How could dividing parts of the Ethiopian population add up to the unity of the whole?” Indeed, the proponents of this approach harbor a strange sort of arithmetic notion. Obviously, this strange arithmetic did not work. What actually unfolded is the stubborn quest for unity by the targeted sub-state nations. They increasingly struggled to restore their unity in some cases by armed means.

By the time the regime-change of 1991 took place, the unworkability of this earlier approach to forging Ethiopia’s unity was obvious at least to those who took over the administration of the country.  Thereafter, the administrative division of the country was carved out to partly coincide with the homelands of Ethiopia’s sub-state nations.

Unfortunately, the incoming rulers employed two policies with the purpose of preserving the pre-eminence they achieved by militarily, unseating the military regime. First, they tried to suppress solidarity within each of Ethiopia’s sub-state nations by dubbing such a tendency as either chauvinism or narrow-nationalism. Second, they also fanned discord among Ethiopia’s sub-state nations.

The incoming rulers of Ethiopia in 1991 defined both chauvinism and narrow-nationalism in such a way that they, and they alone, are supposedly exempted from harboring both sentiments. As the result of this definition, members of the society from which they emerged were free to extend solidarity to each other whereas all the rest were barred from doing so. This sleight of hand was also destined to prove unsustainable.

Pitting Ethiopia’s sub-state nations against each other in order to remain at the helm was the other sleight of hand deployed by those who ascended to power in 1991. Again, we ask the proponents of this approach: “How could fanning acrimony among Ethiopia’s sub-state nations enhance amity among them?” This approach also proved equally unsustainable other than serving as the quintessential divide and rule strategy to prolong the pre-eminence of the ruling group. When some of these targeted communities started collaborating against their common abusers, the pre-eminence of the ruling group came to an end thereby ushering in the ongoing effort to transition to a democratic political order.

Both of the previous rulers of Ethiopia talked, as they continue to do, about “Ethiopia’s unity” ad nauseam. Don’t be fooled by their rhetoric, what they actually mean is “without us at the helm the country is at risk.” To me it has always been obvious that they merely want to restore or preserve their dominance and not to base Ethiopia’s unity on solid foundations.

The other sleight of hand both of the former rulers have tried to employ was restricting the approaches to forging Ethiopia’s unity only to one or the other of previous ones. Only these two are on the menu for forging Ethiopia’s unity, according to them. Nothing could be further from the truth since both previous approaches have practically proven unsustainable.

As the result, during this period of transition, we have the opportunity as well as the responsibility to articulate an alternative approach to forging Ethiopia’s unity. This alternative approach, unlike the previous ones, builds the unity of Ethiopia on the unity of its component nations. Each of Ethiopia’s sub-state nations would serve as the building blocks of the overall unity of the country in this emerging dispensation. A more robust Ethiopia’s unity would, hence, come to rest on the unity of its component nations.

Ethiopia-wide solidarity would also come to rest on the extension of solidarity within Ethiopia’s sub-state nations and amity among them. Those who care about their fellow nationals are more likely to come to the aid of their fellow Ethiopians than the unfair practices of the past.   

For this approach to succeed, we have to give up the imagination of Ethiopian society as a boring monochromatic (mono-religious, mono-cultural and mono-language) entity. Instead, we have to imagine the Ethiopian society as a colorful quilt work in which its sub-state nations are recognized and rendered recognizable in its official portrayal.

One could rightly ask: Why bring up this issue in the midst of the threatening COVID-19 pandemic? My reason for doing so at this critical moment would be obvious from the lesson that the pandemic is trying to instill in us. That very important lesson is that the safety of each one of us amounts to the safety of all of us during this critical time. By the way, this is the lesson that Ethio-telecom drums into our minds every time we place a telephone call.

As the result, we can prevail over this deadly but invisible enemy only by each one of us taking care of ourselves, which adds up to the safety of all of us. Under such a circumstance, each of Ethiopia’s nations should mobilize its intellectuals, professionals and other resources in the fight against COVID-19, which would add up to the total mobilization of all Ethiopians.

Hence, this pandemic is demanding us to start practicing the kind of Ethiopia’s unity that I am advocating. What could happen at the end of this pandemic is hard to predict. But one thing is obvious to me: For all Ethiopians to survive each one of its component nations has to also survive. Let us join hands in making that a reality.

The main deficiency of the past approaches to forging Ethiopia’s unity is the failure to involve the concerned societies in articulating and endorsing them. Hence, let us use the present hiatus in our usual political work, imposed upon us by the pandemic, to exchange views on this crucial matter. AS