Citizens Charter Group (CCG)
March 26,2019
PRESS RELEASE To: The Ethiopian People
The Citizens Charter Group (CCG), a loose group of non-partisan Ethiopian scholars and former civil servants, issued a historic civic vision called “The Citizens Charter for a Democratic Ethiopia.” The Charter articulates an abidingly uniting “vision” for a democratic and prosperous Ethiopia. We invited all Pan-Ethiopian political parties to endorse the Charter although few did, at least publicly. Ethiopiawinnet: Council for the Defense of Citizen Rights was the first rights-based movement to adopt it.
Another window of opportunity for systemic change has just opened as a result of an unprecedented nationwide civil disobedience. That we are now impelled to spell out the practical implications of the core principles of Ethiopian civic nationalism, elucidated in the Charter, shows that we did get the big things right. We dared imagine an Ethiopia that can be republican, liberal, democratic, and prosperous.
The yearlong interregnum between the era of unbridled pillage aimed at nation de-building and the yet unborn order of democratic inclusiveness gives Ethiopians a fleeting historical moment to reflect on what to do now. The confidence-building measures which have been initiated by the reformist group within EPRDF, led by PM Abiy Ahmed, are necessary for meaningful change. They certainly are not sufficient for a decisive transition to a brave new social order.
Full version of the press release is HERE on PDF format.
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The post A People’s Transition Manifesto for a United Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (The Citizens Charter Group) appeared first on Borkena Ethiopian News.
