National dialog is the only solution for the current political crises in the country

 National dialog is the only solution for the current political crises in the country

Abiy came to power on the back of the Oromo protests, a movement inspired by the Oromo national quest for self-determination and autonomy. Oromos made significant individual and collective sacrifices to democratize and consolidate the multi-ethnic federal system. Two years after riding Oromo nationalism to power, it is clear that Abiy has now completely betrayed the Oromo cause and the Oromo national question.

The first few months after Abiy Ahmed’s ascent to power were overwhelmingly hopeful. He embraced the language of human rights, the rule of law, and economic prosperity, and introduced progressive measures, enjoying praise at home and abroad.

Abiy spoke of peace, love, tolerance, and reconciliation. To give his rhetoric the appearance of substance and seriousness, he established the Ministry of Peace and a Peace and Reconciliation Commission and appointed a gender-balanced cabinet.

At the same time, Abiy was also doing something else. While projecting the appearance of a humble and unifying leader driving radical reforms under challenging conditions, he was also consolidating power and reorganising the army, the intelligence and security forces, the civil service, the ruling party, and the governance of regional states.

Three years after Abiy’s rise to power, the political landscape in Ethiopia is further polarized and Ethiopian society is even more deeply divided. Rather than promoting reconciliation, building consensus and cohesion among culturally diverse societies through constructive engagement across political and cultural fault-lines, the prime minister is promoting divisive imperial nationalism and laying the groundwork for his centralizing and assimilationist vision of the future.

Ethiopia was already on the verge of implosion last year before the conflict broke out. Abiy’s determination to impose his will by any means necessary, including war, sparked the Tigray inferno, plunging the country into the most perilous crisis it has seen in three decades.

Clearly, the prime minister has squandered a historic opportunity to build a new and inclusive society based on shared values and mutual respect. After the Tigray war, the path to building a democratic future will be enormously difficult, but it is still possible. What Ethiopia needs now is an inclusive national dialogue that would serve as an instrument of constructive engagement to secure a new political settlement that would allow Ethiopians to live together in peace and equal dignity. But doing so requires, among other things, confronting Ethiopia’s complex past and imperial legacy.