The Ethiopian Prime Minister needs to stop hovering on air and land

By Tesfaye Meles
Tigrai Online, Dec. 2, 2018

The Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed needs to stop hovering on air and touchdown.

So far, since the emergence of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia is breathing anew. All Ethiopians welcomed the reform that is taking place within the ruling party to pave the future for more participatory government.

However, the central government seems becoming weak, more ethnic skirmishes and outlaws activities have increased and the safety of the public is in danger. Reform does not mean to let anarchy dictate the lives of the people. The ruling government has a responsibility to maintain the state of internal security while reforming itself. The responsibility lays on the leadership of the government-the office of the prime minister.

It seems the prime minister is focusing more on international relations by letting the internal relation playing itself out. The international relation with : Eritrea, Sudan, Kenya, Djibouti, and Somalia- which is a regional geopolitics peace initiative- is welcomed by the international community and is giving the prime minister an euphoria of adulation. This euphoria is keeping the prime minister floating leaving the internal governance- the duty of the prime minister to anarchist groups inflicting vindictive violence on the lives of innocent citizens.

The prime minister is responsible for the internal security primarily. However, he is determined to working together with opposing groups including with an archenemy of the country-Esaias Afeworq personally and his regime. The prime minister needs to pay attention to the ramification of loose administration especially in a country like ours where perfidy and grudge are the norm.

The prime minister has to:

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Start governing the federation within his constitutional power while pushing on the reform.

He needs to limit the influence of destructive forces and the like of Esaias Afeworq and Tamagn Beyene groups, because it is so obvious.

The federal government has the power to subdue regional conflicts. No region, should be allowed, or left unchecked, to create violence in any other region. This is the job of the prime minister to take a firm hand in managing the internal security.

The Ethiopian social and political culture does not allow the prime minister to be so reluctant and indecisive from taking the seriousness of internal security. Perfidy and grudge are central in our social and political thinking. This thinking is evident in every ethnic group culture.

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It is one thing to let the people free of government suppression, but it is another to let anarchy dominate the central government. Grudge and revenge must not engulf the society unchecked by the central administration. Otherwise the present anarchism fueled by internal animosity and external grudge will lead the country to another (የመሳፍንት አገዛዝ) - rule of the princes, where the central government will be undermined by regional governments causing an internal warfare.

Governing the public, especially Ethiopians in general or in particular is not a rewarding business, because each-(neither the governing body nor the society) does not value the rule of law. Even the butcher of Ethiopia Mengistu Haile Mariam understood our cultural deficiency when he said (ይህ ህዝብ ወርቅ ብታነጥፍልት አመድ ነው ብሎ ይረግጠዋል) these People, you shower them with gold dust, but they will kick it off as ash dirt. A republic of self-ruling states (regions) under federalism must follow rule of law. Ethiopians, especially the so-called political elites (anarchists) need to understand the inconvenience of rule of law: accept, respect, and abide by the common will under the law.

The Ethiopian constitution though has some parts that need reconsidering, eliminating, and amending, for the most part established the basic framework of the law of the land. It does not have to be torn up to satisfy some disruptive and malicious elements. A civilized political discussion must be at the center of any national, regional, or cultural argument even to change or amend any part of the constitution, but not arrogance-filled defiance. At least we have to give the benefit of the doubt to the self-reforming EPRDF as it is accepting, respecting, and abiding by the constitution it wrote.

Therefore, the premier needs to land on the ground and face the harsh reality of governing Ethiopians- with tough love.

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