Borkena
Toronto – Five major Ethiopian opposition political parties operating in the country have been working on taking their collaborative working relation to the next level for a few months now.
On Saturday, they formally announced the formation of Coalition for Ethiopian Unity (CEU) in a press conference event organized in the capital Addis Ababa.
Borkena has received a copy of the statement that the new coalition released on Saturday.
Enat Party, All Ethiopian Unity Organization, Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP), One Ethiopia Democratic Party and Amhara Ghionawi Movement – are part of the new coalition.
“The people have been asking ‘why are the opposition parties not working together?’ …” , the statement noted.
“We now announce that the time has come for it to officially announce the establishment of the five party’s coalition which is named Coalition for Ethiopian Unity,” the statement said.
The coalition council has already elected leaders but the statement did not specify names.
As to the next step, the coalition stated that it will work on the advocacy works the parties have been doing in a collaborative way in the past few years but in a “stronger” form.
As was the case with members parties of the coalition, the new political entity tends to project the view that Ethiopia is facing an existential threat than ever before.
Ending wars in different parts of the country and transitioning to a stable political environment is among the challenges identified for advocacy.
Unbearable cost of living to the point that having a meal a day becomes a challenge issue the coalition will be working on.
Widespread arbitrary arrest and kidnapping, the release of politicians who were thrown to jail because of holding dissenting views are among priority areas for advocacy.
The coalition has also expressed, explicitly, its readiness to undertake a peaceful struggle to end the suffering of the people within the framework of the law.
Despite the multifaceted crisis facing the country, the ruling prosperity party has claimed that it is “taking Ethiopia along the paths of prosperity.” Also, the government has been cracking down on press and democratic freedoms in the country. Reports of kidnapping of journalists, and in the capital Addis Ababa, have been common recently.
Also, notable political figures, mostly in the opposition quarter and ethnic Amharas including parliamentarians like Christian Tadele, have been arbitrarily arrested and thrown to jail for years now.
The new coalition has also expressed its readiness to work on any political forces who have the understanding that the country is in a grave situation. “This year will be one during which we mend the broken Ethiopian politics or one that we let bow down forever,” it said.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration, through Addis Ababa City Administration, has been banning peaceful protests in the country including one that is advocating for an end to war in the Amhara and Oromia regions.
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This is good news and encouraging sign. Let’s wish the new coalition success and hop that the coalition will last and lead even to becoming a single party. Let’s all hope that other opposition groups will come into coalition groups leading to cohesive parties. Coalitions along ethnic lines should always be discouraged and even ignored. It is a metastatic cancer that has been eating at the heart of that country since the demonic philosophy of the commies sat foot there in the early 1970’s.
This is good and encouraging sign. It shows once for all that USA is committed for the unity of that country. I hope other scattered and fragmented opposition groups will take a good note of this and start creating unions leading into single parties. Such newly formed unions should never be based exclusively on ethnic lines. Enough of that already. That country desperately needs to be a nation of two strong political parties. Now, this new united political group has a huge work cut out for it. It has to show us its objectives in detail without delay in a political and economic program. Its program must be devoid of divisive phrases such as ‘class this, class that’ and ‘oppressed and oppressor that’ borrowed from the demonic programs of Lenin and Mao. If I find even one such phrase in their program, I am gonna immediately withdraw my support. For now, I wish this new united group continued success leading to a cohesive one party.