EPRDF Executive Committee decision regarding the Algiers agreement rejected by majority Ethiopians

Tigrai Online, June 14, 2018

Dr. Solomon Barnabas speaking about the current EPRDF decision and the border problem between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

The recent decision by the EPRDF Executive Committee to accept the Ethiopia and Eritrean Algiers agreement without any condition has infuriated the Ethiopian people especially the communities who live in the border area. Many Ethiopians are concerned how the Prime Minister Abiy’s administration has casually decided without any consultation with the Ethiopian people except the Ethio-Eritrea Algiers agreement.

Thousands of people have lost their lives to defend Ethiopia’s sovereignty and to eject the invading Eritrean army out of Ethiopia. Most people are saying the prime minister and his government should be more considerate to the fallen Ethiopians and the population in the border. There is another argument in support of the government’s current decision. Those supporting the decision say the current announcement by the EPRDF Executive Committee almost identical to the previous statements by the Meles and Hailemariam administrations. The only difference is the current one said unconditionally while the old statements insisted on five point negotiations. In addition to that the new or the old statements never mention any town or any specific location to be given to Eritrea. In fact the Algiers agreement main goal was to stop the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

If the current EPRDF government is contemplating to surrender the disputed Ethiopian territories which are part of the Tigrai State, it will lose more than a few patches of lands, it will be digging its own grave as a political party in Ethiopia. First the people will not allow such treasonous action to take place. Second any uncalculated hasty decision will create a huge rift among member parties. EPRDF might even split in two or more groups permanently and that would be a disaster for the party and the country.

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The delimitation which was done hurriedly is done only on paper and it was done without the so called judges stepping foot in the disputed land. The judges didn’t do their due diligence about the border population historical background and the ramification of splitting families into two countries. If the demarcation takes place the details has to be worked out very carefully to avoid damage to the people on both sides and decrease the chance of future conflict in the area. The announcement was unprofessional, untimely, and possibly illegal to say the least. The Ethiopian prime minister is in a rush to do many things too fast

EPRDF and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed should pay extreme attention to each and every minute detail regarding this issue or they might be compounding the previous mistakes. The government also needs to be absolutely honest with the Ethiopian people and all decisions should be made with the at most clarity and transparency.