National Movement of Amhara (NaMA) says the better option to resolve the political crisis is to let the government lead the transition, not a new transitional government for Ethiopia
borkena
May 7, 2020
The formation of a transitional government could not be a solution for Ethiopia’s political crisis, the National Movement of Amhara (NaMA) said on Thursday.
After completing two days of an emergency meeting, the Executive Committee of the movement has issued a statement reflecting on what it called a political crisis in the country.
NaMA explicitly stated the political crisis in the country can not be solved through an election or reform measures. It emphasized on continuous engagement and dialogue among the political elites.
“Viewed from the task of defending the sovereignty of the country, ensuring the safety and security of citizens, and enabling an entity capable of discharging its responsibility to ensure the rule of law, the idea of forming a transitional government is not attainable,” said NaMA executive. What NaMA believes is a state-led transition that could usher the country to a reliable structural and systemic change.
NaMA said the better option at this time is to let the government stay in power until the next election so that it can lead the transition process. Ethiopia’s election was scheduled to take place in August of this year but was later canceled as the Coronavirus situation affected the series of activities leading to the election.
NaMA has articulated its position from the interest of Amhara people and “other brotherly people,” as described in the statement.
The demands of Amhara people are systemic and structural, and the solution is a political one that could emanate from the political dialogues of elites.
Choosing long term interest of people over quick short term political gains is the way to go forward for NaMA. And it envisions unceasing dialogue, mediation, and reconciliation as strategies to achieve those goals.
To that end, the organization recommended the formation of a national dialogue commission (drawn from opposition parties, civic organization, and other stakeholders) that is answerable to the House of the People’s Representative. PM Abiy Ahmed established a truth and reconciliation commission with approval from the parliament but the project did not demonstrate much progress.
The Movement also called for the government to make the necessary preparation to defend citizen’s peace and security as the country is in a difficult situation.
In a message to what it called “defeated forces” that are trying to restore repression, NaMA said that it condemns their moves and will struggle against it. The implicit, more explicit arguably, message is to Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) which announced this week that it will conduct its own election in the Tigray region. The Chairperson of The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia said this week that TPLF can not conduct its election according to the constitution.
Opposition parties are offering a possible solution to resolve the current political crisis in the country. On Wednesday, Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice Party (EZEMA) proposed a particular amendment to the constitution to resolve the election time-related crisis.
Join the conversation. Like borkena on Facebook and get Ethiopian News updates regularly. As well, you may get Ethiopia News by following us on twitter @zborkena
The post Ethiopia’s political crisis couldn’t be solved through a transitional gov’t: NaMA appeared first on Borkena Ethiopian News.