The Mêlée
of Power
Quo Vadis Ethiopian Elections 2020?
Who & Where are the Ethiopian
Voters?
Public Lecture – Respublica
Litereria - RL Vol XIII No 390 MMXIX
Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos,
PhD
Chair of the Board, Lem
Ethiopia, Environment & Development Society
Abstract
PM Abiy has thrown a blowlamp into the heart of the Horn of Africa
society and polity, nerve-wracking the terms of engagement of martial titans
and thrown the centre of gravity of the Red Sea arena of war into unprecedented
peace trajectory. The way he deconstructed the power monsters of the Horn is
purely ontological. This strategy of conjectural rise of political
liberalisation in a rough neighbourhood is going to be a seminal lesson in international relations and in political science. On the other hand, resistance
to change remains strong and the new openness has led to the flaring of ethnic
tensions in some regions. Notwithstanding the doubts and worries, it has raised
in the public, ethnocentric devolution remains the bedrock of the constitution. The strategy appears to have been
effective not only in allowing the political order to carry out its specific
political agenda and ideological goals, but also in setting the tone for the
political organisation and activities of alternative and opposition groups - decidedly
channelling their activities along ethnic lines. True, political dispute is a necessary
force, desirable because parties speak for varied needs and interests and
valued because, if managed judiciously, conflict often serves as a midwife for
a society pregnant with change. Nonetheless, the political exploit of the
élite raises serious questions on their commitment to pluralism. Noxious activists resist sensibleness, idyllically unmindful of the toxic impact that
they have on citizens and seem to derive redress from creating chaos.
Pernicious people cloaked as politicians and activists defy reason deriving
carnality from sadomasochism, ecstatically oblivious of their deleterious
violence-ridden mission. Nevertheless, to reduce Abiy’s actions to some power-mongering
aim as constructed by the ‘supermen’ is too simplistic. There was a sense of
aggravation among Ethiopian citizens that have not seen democracy and he seems to be tending to this vexation with gales
fuelling the inferno of political liberalisation. There are costs to be paid
but as is usual with such change, it enters politics and society in relatively
abstract and plain form, yet pundits expect it to land itself to the immediate
and vital local polity's socio-political experience. It suggests itself, and
seems within reach, only to elude and appears readily practicable only to
resist realisation – while he appears unbowed in his drive for democracy, but the
jury is still out on whether he can see it through.
Key words: Ethiopia, ethnicity,
political liberalisation, elections, opposition, anti-incumbency syndrome,
See post here or https://www.academia.edu/38544821/The_M%C3%AAl%C3%A9e_of_Power_Quo_Vadis_Ethiopian_Elections_2020
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