Mereja Forum

[Za-Ilmaknun]

Ethiopia needs strategic leadership at its helm and elites representing various interests who understand the knot the country is entangled in. The nation needs leaders that have the wisdom to make all the right decisions and have the courage to confront the radicals in their midst.

Political liberalisation does not necessarily lead to democratisation; not at least in every case where it has been tried and tested. Societies which confronted political polarisation and growing income inequality have seen not only democracy weakened, but also a threat to the existence of the very state itself.

The Ethiopian political space today is littered with actors – parties, activists and even some officeholders - who are treating their opponents as mortal enemies. They exaggerate their role as the only saviours capable of standing for their respective regions or kilil, as they are known locally. They assume the role of representing their own ethnic communities, while those that oppose them are seen as threats, taking maximalist positions on every issue with little regard to the national project.

Hateful public discourses and aggressive stands are taken, demonizing the other side instead of arguing as citizens that belong to one nation. They behave as if the common ground does not exist. Unfortunately, these views are no longer just held on the margins. This is not helping the project of building faith in democratic institutions and the entire governance structure.

The central arena cannot hold where parliament becomes an echo chamber of the executive branch of government, instead of a deliberative body that legislates on behalf of the general will of the people. It has little chance of surviving in a place where the judiciary is sidelined into irrelevance by its lack of courage to fulfill its constitutional mandate, an executive that operates in a bipolar manner of either extreme bullying beyond its constitutionally mandated powers or in complete negligence of its responsibilities.

https://addisfortune.com/polarisation-i ... ian-state/

[Degnet]

Ethiopia needs strategic leadership at its helm and elites representing various interests who understand the knot the country is entangled in. The nation needs leaders that have the wisdom to make all the right decisions and have the courage to confront the radicals in their midst.

Political liberalisation does not necessarily lead to democratisation; not at least in every case where it has been tried and tested. Societies which confronted political polarisation and growing income inequality have seen not only democracy weakened, but also a threat to the existence of the very state itself.

The Ethiopian political space today is littered with actors – parties, activists and even some officeholders - who are treating their opponents as mortal enemies. They exaggerate their role as the only saviours capable of standing for their respective regions or kilil, as they are known locally. They assume the role of representing their own ethnic communities, while those that oppose them are seen as threats, taking maximalist positions on every issue with little regard to the national project.

Hateful public discourses and aggressive stands are taken, demonizing the other side instead of arguing as citizens that belong to one nation. They behave as if the common ground does not exist. Unfortunately, these views are no longer just held on the margins. This is not helping the project of building faith in democratic institutions and the entire governance structure.

The central arena cannot hold where parliament becomes an echo chamber of the executive branch of government, instead of a deliberative body that legislates on behalf of the general will of the people. It has little chance of surviving in a place where the judiciary is sidelined into irrelevance by its lack of courage to fulfill its constitutional mandate, an executive that operates in a bipolar manner of either extreme bullying beyond its constitutionally mandated powers or in complete negligence of its responsibilities.

https://addisfortune.com/polarisation-i ... ian-state/

It is well written,good night.