Compared to other countries in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia has enjoyed a relatively longer period of statehood and apparently strong political culture. However, the traditional polity and all the previous political regimes were characterized by repressive and feudal, autocratic hereditary rule followed by the totalitarian regime of the Derg.
In traditional Ethiopia, politics was considered as an area allotted only for the ruling class and its elite intelligentsia. The term politician is also associated with Machiavellian shrewdness, crafty oratorical talent and skillful lying. The ordinary citizen is not allowed to tamper in political issues and those who dare to do so were subjected to court rulings that have included capital punishments. The late emperor who claimed to rule through a divine power vested in him by God was the only politician who had the last word on the political life of the nation. He was also the only charismatic diplomat who claimed to be the spokesperson for Ethiopia.
Despite the provisions of the monarchical constitution and apparently pseudo democratic constitution issued by the Derg, rational rule of law was replaced by gross miscarriage of justice and the most elementary human rights were repressed through deployment of naked punitive forces and security networks.
Except for various national liberation fronts that took up arms against the feudal and military regime to secure their natural and democratic rights, there were no parties let alone opposition parties worthy of the name. This created a power vacuum for the military to usurp power and destroy the vestiges of political democracy in the country.
With the advent of a new political system and commissioning of a democratic constitution, various ethnic based and national level political parties were formed and duly registered to practice their political programmes in the context of the constitution.
The concept of opposition party in the Ethiopian context invariably surpasses its formal meaning in popular parlance. Political opposition is essentially a positive trend and implies the prevalence of a greater political responsibility both as a political party and as an institution composed of responsible citizens engaged in supplementing the efforts of the ruling party. These parties are expected to come up with specific programmes and recommendations that ultimately contribute to the prevalence of democratic nationalism and prevalence of democratic political culture to buttress the economic and social development of Ethiopia.
Political opposition parties in Ethiopia cannot be viewed in isolation from the prevalence of a democratic political culture that is gradually but surly getting ground in the country. Opposition has nothing to do with political nihilism or biased hatred of political views or strategies of the ruling party and other similar opposition parties.
Opposition implies critical support for the government, proactive and targeted advocacy for the national interest of Ethiopia and circulation of innovative and constructive ideas that could practically benefit the ordinary citizen.
Some opposition parties in the country have already chosen the path towards peaceful and constitution based opposition while quite a number of them are engaged in sabre rattling and going against the tide of the political flow in the country.
Most of the political opposition parties in Ethiopia operate within Ethiopia while a number of them are foreign based. These parties face various challenges that they can address through time. Absence of strong organizational network, lack of verifiable indigenous political ideology and meaningful party discipline, lack of financial and material backing, sporadic political activities limited to election seasons, dependency syndrome on financial support from membership in the diaspora and inability to generate local financial and logistics resources can be mentioned.
The establishment of a forum and formation of a coordination committee composed of the representatives of the ruling party and some opposition parties is a step forward in the right direction. The code of conduct and operational guidelines signed between the ruling party and opposition parties signatory to the document is of vital importance for amicable cooperation between the parties but operational transparency and maintenance of good faith and accommodative political and institutional relations is imperative.
Ethiopian opposition political parties are assets to the promotion of political pluralism and the prevalence of a democratic political culture in the country. In countries like UK, opposition parties are referred to as the Queen's Opposition Parties and they enjoy their constitutional and democratic rights under the protection of the queen and the entire political system in the country. Their active and permanent participation in the political system of the country is of crucial important as they can add meaningful value to the development of a democratic social and political order in the country.
Opposition parties have been voicing their views through demonstrations and quite a few public gatherings but their activities should not be limited to specific issues. Focusing on the big picture and strategically shape their activities on their own will help them to grow much faster and scale up their political participation.
Opposition parties are expected to accent the positive socio-economic developments of the country and come up with new political innovations that they can share with the public and the ruling party. They can help to widen the political environment of their participation by engaging in a constructive dialogue among themselves and the ruling party.
These parties can contribute their part in the development of a democratic culture in Ethiopia not only by benchmarking their own views only on criticising the political ideology of the ruling party but by popularising their political programs on specific issues of national significance.
The opposition political parties will not and cannot expect to operate on red carpet. They have to face the challenges that the nation is facing and become active parts of the solution.
Many of the opposition parties lack diverse means of peaceful and democratic struggle. They need to address the public through their diverse publications, organizing political seminars on the burning issues facing the nation, avoid mixing a coalition - collusion syndrome by engaging in a constructive and purposeful dialogue on national and regional issues pertaining to the development of their country.
The ruling party on the other hand should pro-actively take the initiative in supporting and constantly consulting with the opposition parties on issues of national significance. It is equally important to avoid biases and over generalizations of the nature of the opposition parties in Ethiopia.
Both the ruling and opposition parties should come up with a common agenda of preparing a binding political strategy that can help to reach the objectives of the GTP 2 as well as a prolonged strategy and vision to build a mid-level income nation by the year 2025.
When it comes to building a self-sufficient democratic Ethiopia, if the opposition parties cannot be part of the solution as rightful political entities of the country, they may face the danger of balkanisation and ultimately succumb to political irrelevance which no citizen wishes to witness.
Source: AllAfrica
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