This paper sought at understanding the paradox of ethnic federalism implementation in ethiopia. The system designed to fuse an unwieldy nation together is now tearing it apart. The current regime in ethiopia adopted ethnic federalism and redesigned the country along ethnic lines as soon as it took political power in 1991. The threat of secession and possible disintegration of. Even for distinct schools of thoughts, federalism mean different. On may 11, 2008, zenawi issued a statement which categorically denied the transfer of any ethiopian land to the sudan. The study of federalism has attracted scholars of various fields for a long time.
Given his scholarship and his publications and his reputation, i expected some original insights on ethiopian. That is, the regional rulers had some degree of autonomy to govern their respective regions, which is the modern essence of federalism. Federalism as an instrument of balancing the tension between universalism and particularism has drawn more attention in pluralistic societies. They considered that ethiopian ethnic federalism was innovative, giving room for thinking differently about ethnicity in the political evolution of africa 10. Hof house of federation, the second or upper chamber. Now, ethiopia is a country with 27 years history of ethnic federalism and a living example to the adage that it is not identities that create territories but territories that create identities.
Then there is the insidious ethnic federalism which has created the equivalent of bantustans ethnic homelands for the ethiopian people. Ethnic federalism and its discontents the web site. Teshomes partisan commentary is irresponsible, riddled with factual inaccuracies and removed from the reality as lived by the majority of ethiopians in 2017. In cases such as where the local governments deal with the local problems directly, federalism comes to play. Ethnic federalism has been exploited to plant division among ethnic groups so as to institutionalize and facilitate rule by the tplf and other politically affiliated groups, representing a small proportion of the population. Opinion the trouble with ethiopias ethnic federalism the. No single ethnic community in ethiopia constitutes more than 50% of the countrys population. The major argument against it is that ethnic federalism will only lead to further ethnic fragmentation, tensions and conflicts and will thus ultimately result in the demise of the. This query would be better handled in light of the problems that the ethiopian federalism poses along with some of the existing opportunities. Rather, i examine ethnic federalism as a tool to achieve certain ends in ethiopia. It must be in oromia, in amhara or the debub region. Ethnic federalism and conflict in ethiopia african journals online. The ethiopian peoples revolutionary democratic front eprdf constitution establishes a federal state. For this purpose, an ethnic federal state has been established.
However, this had brought the national questions as the politicoideological agenda by the. The factors that endanger the current system simultaneously suggest under what conditions the concept of ethnic federalism might succeed in the ethiopian context. Multiethnic multinational federalism in plural societies. In recent days i have been following the crisis in addis to which many were speaking passionately. Ethiopia is a diversified nation with more than 80 ethnic groups. Ethiopian ethnic federal system is significant in that it provides for secession of any ethnic unit. Cohen harvard institute for international development the problems of nations within states, the coming anarchy, and the restoration of collapsed states have been widely discussed of late. When the ethiopian peoples revolutionary democratic front eprdf ruling coalition established the system of ethnic federalism after coming to power in 1991, it served a clear purpose. First of all, addis ababa does not exist in a vacuum. What really happened in western ethiopia in may, 2008. First, it examines the historical and ideological basis of federalism.
A new constitution was introduced in 1994, dividing ethiopia on ethnic lines into nine regional states and two. Many thought the tigray peoples liberation front, representing a minority in the dominant coalition, turned to ethnic federalism to dissolve and fragment ethiopian society into numerous ethnic. The result is an increasingly salient narrative that presents ethnic federalism as a tplfdominated project aimed at subjugating the region. Conceptualizations and impacts of multiculturalism in the. Related terms are multiethnic federalism and ethnofederalism. Rather than asking whether ethnic federalism is right for ethiopia, i consider the selfinterest of the architects of the policy, the circumstances of its creation, and their immediate and longterm goals. Edu ethiopian democratic union edup ethiopian democratic unity party edu and edp merger eebc eritreaethiopia boundary commission effort endowment fund for the rehabilitation of tigray ehrco ethiopian human rights council eiu economist intelligence unit epdm ethiopian peoples democratic movement now andm. The current regime in ethiopia adopted ethnic federalism and redesigned.
It is against the backdrop of an inadequate application of the preceding suppositions in ethiopian ethnic federalism that this book may be comprehended p. Jan 03, 2019 many thought the tigray peoples liberation front, representing a minority in the dominant coalition, turned to ethnic federalism to dissolve and fragment ethiopian society into numerous ethnic. Unity v diversity ethiopias ethnic federalism is being tested. Introduction after ousting mengistu haile mariams dictatorship in 1991, the ethiopian peoples revolutionary democratic front eprdf, led by prime minister meles zenawi, embarked on a project to radically transform the countrys political system. Dec 07, 2017 dr bekalu atnafu taye is assistant professor at kotebe metropolitan university, addis ababa, ethiopia. Federalism offers the following advantages federalism allows diversity. However, these pledges were not translated into practice. Constitution of the federal democratic republic of ethiopia.
Ethnic federalism and its discontents executive summary the ethiopian peoples revolutionary democratic front eprdf, led by its chairman and prime minister, meles zenawi, has radically reformed ethiopia s political system. They considered that ethiopian ethnic federalism was innovative, giving room for thinking differently about ethnicity in. Meanwhile, ethnic federalism has not resolved the national question from the fact that ethnic conflicts are widened, transformed from the national to lower structural levels. Fiscal federalism in the ethiopian ethnicbased federal system the second issue is the division of the revenue raising fiscal federalism in ethiopia between the federal government and the regions. Sep 22, 2016 advantages and disadvantages of federalism advantages of federalism. Despite the evolution of multiethnic ethiopia by territorial conquest, successive feudal regimes were embarked on hegemonic project of building a nationstate. Perceptions of ethnic federalism and the ethiopian diaspora. Ethnic federalism in ethiopia part2 somalinationalregionalstatd jijiga, ethiopia october1999 bymarcmichaelson thesomaliregionisamongethiopiaspoorest,leastdevelopedandmost politicallytroubled areas. Federalism and the accommodation of ethnic diversity.
Historical facts and the ethiopian constitution put addis ababa in oromia. Now that the ethnic federal experiment is more than a decade old, it is possible to make a tentative evaluation of its performance. Pdf weaknesses of ethnic federalism in ethiopia haymi. It has been almost 19 years since ethiopia embarked upon what many ethiopians claim is a treacherous experiment in ethnic federalism. Background, present conditions and future prospects pdf. An economic analysis of fiscal federalism in ethiopia. According to the constitution, they are given all the power to develop their region. A means for managing or a triggering factor for ethnic conflicts in ethiopia. Thus, the nineteenth century ethiopian emperor, menelik, operationalised the federal system of government that was geographybased, not ethnic.
The tigray people liberation front took power in 1991 and established the ethiopian people. The essay begins with an extremely brief background section on ethiopias history and demographics. Others respond that the constitution is fundamentally inapt for successful ethnic federalism, as the federal government has the formal authority. Introduction it has now been a little over fifteen years since a unique federal state structure was adopted in ethiopia pursuant to the 1994 constitution. Federalism is debatable not only in practice but also at theoretical levels. Mamdani article on ethnic federalism in ethiopia with a great interest. In a nutshell, ethiopian ethnolinguistic federalism is a response to the unfavorable conditions that prevailed in a unitary system, he concludes. The ethiopian peoples revolutionary democratic front eprdf, led by its chairman and prime minister, meles zenawi, has radically reformed ethiopia s political system. There has not been any change of government since then and the. Ethnic federalism and ethiopian federalism in particular is hotly contested. Jan 23, 2019 territorial federalism might have been a viable path in 1991, long before ethnic federalism took root.
Sep 06, 2018 10 may to what extent is the ethiopian fiscal federalism decentralized in experience of ethiopian fiscal federalism is associated with equal access. The secession clause is one of the most controversial issues in public discourse in ethiopia and. Concepts and theories 25 of treaties and the coining of money is independent of the government of the associated states, and, on the other hand, state governments which in certain matters are, in their turn, independent of the general government. Perceptions of ethnic federalism and the ethiopian diaspora community in the us by kassaw tafere merie msw, arizona state university, 2015 mbl, university of south africa, 2011 ba, addis ababa university, 1994 dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy public policy and administration. Ethnic federalism implementation in ethiopia longdom publishing. This type of federation is identified above all with the governance of meles zenawi from the 1990s in ethiopia, where it has sometimes been known as zenawism. Ethiopia has 99 problems but ethnic federalism is the least of them. Ethnic federalism and its discontents crisis group. Advantages and disadvantages of federalism advantages of federalism. Unity v diversity ethiopias ethnic federalism is being. True, many ethnic federalism critics including a large number of amhara but also many others promote a pan ethiopian vision and portray ethnic federalism as eroding national unity. The eprdfs ethnic federalism has not dampened con flict, but rather. In particular, it discusses the two historical factors that influenced the ideology of ethiopian.
The, the profederal, outlooks ethnic based federalism as a means to intensification unity, and they support diversity for the sake of unity. Following the end of the war, the postconflict government led by meles zenawi needed to balance the demands of over 90 ethnic. Instability, corruption, andclanismhaveplagued the regional government. However, the oromo, amhara, somali and tigre are the major ethnic groups with significant proportions, 34. Thus, the eprdf that assumed power in may 1991 after its protracted 17 year armed insurgency undertaken the reconstruction of the ethiopian state. Challenges and opportunities abstract the study analyses the role of federalism in solving the national and ethnic conflicts. History and ideology 57 selfadministration through regional autonomy. On may 11, 2008, zenawi issued a statement which categorically denied the transfer of any ethiopian. Eprdf ethiopian peoples revolutionary democratic front. To be sure, article 39 14, under the title the rights of nations, nationalities and peoples, of the 1991 consti. In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content. The incumbent regime, however, has been attempting to maintain the integrity of ethiopian state on the basis of multi ethnic federalism, which anomalously extended the right of nations, nationalities and peoples of the country up to secession.
The regime transformed the hitherto centralised state into the federal democratic republic and also redefined. From this point of view it describes the main types of modern federal state. Is ethnic federalism really the biggest problem in ethiopia. According to the existing government and its proponents, response to the national question is the very basis of federalism in ethiopia. Draft ethiopia ethnic federalism university of chicago law. The impact of the inclusion of secession clause in the. Usa, frg, multiethnic switzerland, presentday russia and multinational forms former. Ethnic federalism is a federal system of national government in which the federated units are defined according to ethnicity. Ethnic federalism is a federal system of national government in which the federated units are. After the end of the cold war era there is a drift in to reaffirmation of ethnic identity as a means of determining the public life of a society, the venture to ethnify. For centuries the city of harar, on the eastern fringes of the ethiopian highlands, was a sanctuary, its people protected by a. The threat of secession and possible disintegration of ethiopia as a. Related terms are multi ethnic federalism and ethnofederalism.
Territorial federalism might have been a viable path in 1991, long before ethnic federalism took root. Northeast african studies, volume 10, number 2, new series, pp. In this short essay, i approach the question of ethnic federalism in ethiopia from yet another perspective. The problems of nations within states, the coming anarchy. The current ethiopian regime has used the ethnic federalism policy to restructure ethiopias geopolitical, social and education policies along ethnic and linguistic lines. Thus, during the forum debate building federalism and democratic unity. Ethnic federalism and conflict in ethiopia ecadf ethiopian news. To this end, the ethiopian constitution provides for ethnicfederal government as the principal institutional means for accommodating ethnic groups cultural. Dec 09, 2019 the system designed to fuse an unwieldy nation together is now tearing it apart. Ethiopias multiethnic federalism encourages political parties to organize along ethnic lines, and it champions an ethnicized federal state.
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