The Role of Elites in Ethiopian Politics

By Assefa A. Lemu 

According to Vilferado Pareto and Gaetano Mosca only minority have talent, intelligence, ability, and leadership quality to occupy power or important position. Minority has access to power, to top decision makers and control the outcome of the decision and take the advantage of that decision. The thinking, decision, and behavior of the ordinary peoples are influenced mainly by elites. 

Elites played key role in Ethiopian politics in the past, they are playing key role in the present and will play key role in the future. Elites are very important because they are “… those who have vastly disproportionate control over or access to a resource. …. we can think of elites as occupying a position that provides them with access and control or as possessing resources that advantage them…”(Shamus Rahman Khan, 2012, The Sociology of Eliteshttps://shamuskhan.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/the-sociology-of-elites.pdf).  Therefore, the term elites can be defined in relation to the powerand resources they possessas well as the positions/status they have within the society and their influence.The resource they control must have transferable or conversion value to give them economic rewards to create influenceand integrate into some of the higher social echelons. For example, athlete Haile Gebresellassie was good in running and he earned wealth and fame out of that running and became part of the higher social echelon in Ethiopia. The wealth, fame, and position he got in the society initiated him to aspire to be a Prime Minister of Ethiopia, the top Government position in the country occupied only by elite (http://nazret.com/blog/index.php/2008/11/08/i_want_to_become_a_prime_minister_of_eth andhttps://ecadforum.com/2010/12/17/haile-gebrselassie-sets-sights-on-political-career-as-prime-minister-as-president-minister/). Artists such as Temagn Beyene and Tewodros Kassahun became elites using acting and singing skills respectively.  These artists and athlete are examples of individuals who transferred their skills and fames into capital (wealth and goodwill) that made them elites and gave them power to create influence in the society.Thus, elites could betalented individuals, government officials, rich individuals, experts/intellectuals, religious or community leaderswho have access or control over different resources (political, economic, cultural, social (networks), and knowledge capital) to influence others.

As clearly indicated in the preamble of the constitution of the FDRE that says “Fully cognizant that our common destiny can best be served by rectifying historically unjust relationships and by further promoting our shared interests”,EPRDF’s assessment was that the concentration of elites in Ethiopia has been skewed to one ethnic group because of historical reasons and tried to correct/manage its distribution to make it proportional.  As a result we saw the representation of more ethnic groups in federal offices and different affirmative measures. However, following the divisionscreated within EPRDF member organizations and coming to power of Dr. Abiy Ahmed as EPRDF Chairman and Prime Minister of Ethiopia in April 2018, that approach was challenged and the achievement of EPRDF in this regard is in a downward spiral. At present, a group which got higher pool of elites is using every mechanism at its disposal to undo what have been done in the last 28 years by influencing individuals in the higher government and EPRDF positions. This group is also intensively using electronic and print media and other modes of communication to discredit the current constitution, the current federal system, and regionalization as well as the current parliamentary form of government. 

I don’t have the data which shows the number and quality of Ethiopian elites by ethnic group, but from the simple observation of the fact on the ground, I can say that Amhara elites are the majority and dominant one. The simple indicators to this argument is numbers of eliteswho are making presentations on the national conferences and workshops sponsored by the Federal Government with the taxpayer’s money to discuss about the future of Ethiopia and participants invited to those conferences/workshops disaggregated by ethnic group, number of owners of electronic and print media in Ethiopia and journalists focusing on Ethiopian politics by ethnic group.From the monks in the remote parts of Ethiopia to the professors in American universities, the Amhara elites are aggressively working to undo what have been done in the last 28 years.  Some of them claim that they were not represented in the making of the current Ethiopian constitution which some of them called “Lencho-Meles Constitution”. However, they didn’t tell us whom ANDM and its members like Mr. Dawit Yohannes who was the Head of the Office of the Constitutional Commission and Secretary of the Commission and Mr. Mesfin Bekele who was the representative of Amhara Regional State at the Constitutional Commission represented. 

The elites play crucial role in mobilizing people by setting agenda, generating theory which support that agenda, by financing that agenda and defending that agenda. For example in 1970s and 1980s certain groups of Ethiopian elites developed an agenda of “equality of ethnic groups in Ethiopia”. They generated theories around the rights of ethnic groups in Ethiopia, financed, and defended (including armed struggle) that agenda. That agenda became victorious in 1991 and dominated Ethiopian politics up until the present. Now, another group of elites came up with the“citizenship political agenda” which is antithesis of ethnic/diversity based politics and showed their determination to promote, finance, and defend this agenda by establishing Ethiopian Citizens Party for Social Justice (ECPSJ) (or የኢትዮጵያዜጎችለማህበራዊፍትህፓርቲ /ኢዜማ in Amharic) with Dr.Berhanu Nega  and Mr. Andualem Arage, as its leader and deputy leader respectively and Mr. Yeshiwas Assefa and Dr. Chane Kebede as chairperson and deputy chairperson respectively.Few others are echoing the term “citizenship politics” even without understanding what it mean with the assumption that it will change the current constitution and the federal system. This is one of the examples that support the statement of an Italian philosopher Vilfredo Paretowho said “When it is useful to them, men can believe a theory of which they know nothing more than its name”. In his presentation to discredit diversity in Ethiopia, one of the promoters of the “citizenship politics” Deacon Daniel Kibret explained how the Ethiopian elites mobilize their supporters and how the ordinary individuals follow them and participate in the implementation of their objectives with the herd mentality (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1a-GeIUWnQ). It isimportant to note that his explanation of how Ethiopian elites operate applies to all groups of elites.

Ethiopia of today is a country where elites who are not the citizens of Ethiopia preach about “citizenship politics” and meddle in its politics.About two weeks ago,when we discuss the involvement of these non-Ethiopian citizens in Ethiopian politics, one of my friends said “Ethiopia never colonized and maybe now she is working to catch up with other African countries that were colonized by giving a chance to foreign citizens to control its politics” and made me laugh. His joke has a grain of truth and I wonder why these individuals who renounced Ethiopian citizen and took the citizen of foreign countries and not willing to regain Ethiopian citizenship by giving up foreign citizenships are allowed to meddle in Ethiopian domestic politics? These contra naturam individuals are trying to present acknowledgement of being part of one’s ethnic group as backwardness and upholding one’s ethnic value and culture as primordial practice. In their opinion, what is good is, as Walelign Mekonnen clearly put it four decades ago, “… to speak Amharic, to listen to Amharic music, to accept the Amhara-Tigre religion, Orthodox Christianity, and to wear the Amhara-Tigre Shamma in international conferences”(https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/ethiopia/nationalities.pdf).

Currently, Ethiopian politics is caught between two major elite groups- those who support diversity based political agenda and those who claim they oppose that agenda. The top EPRDF officials arenow swinging between these two groups to make both groups comfortable. EPRDF’s political agenda and principles which have been dominant for the last 28 years are now challenged by EPRDF leaders themselves. Top EPRDF officials are more concerned about how to please the elite group they think is dominant rather than defending the objectives of their party. The renewal and deep-renewals couldn’t save EPRDF from incessant decaying and from the opportunistic political disease that EPRDF recently diagnosed with and called “confusion”. 

It is beyond doubt that the direction and fate of Ethiopia will be decided by its elites. The group of elites who sets the right agenda, who is able to support that agenda with the authoritative discourse, that is able to finance and defend that agenda will take the leadership role. In light of the present EPRDF leadership’s nearly accepting the defeat of their political agenda, the diversity politics (the current constitution and federal system) could be defended only by either changing the current EPRDF leadership or establishing another strong political organization that can defend diversity in Ethiopia. It will be unwise to expect the current EPRDF leadership that blames the constitution and the federal system as causes of instability and other problems and busy with restoration of Emperor Menelik’s palace and political culture to defend the gains achieved in the last 28 years and the rights of ethnic groups in Ethiopia. Particularly, the Oromo nationalists must stop dreaming that Team Lemma who hijacked the Oromo protests and came to power could bring something fundamental in Oromo politics. Team Lemma has now replaced with Team Abiy who on the very first day of his speech as a Prime Minister of Ethiopia reopened the wound of Oromo and added salt to it. Team Abiy composes of individuals who deny the crimes committed against Oromo at Anolle and turns deaf ear to the Oromo demands and even working to destroy achievements made so far including the continuation of Oromia as one state of the FDRE.As an Italian political scientist Gaetano Mosca said “If tolerance is taken to the point where it tolerates the destruction of those same principles that made tolerance possible in the first place, it becomes intolerable”.Dr. Abiy’s Government project to take Ethiopia back to pre-1991, even to pre 1974, by undermining or changing the current constitution and the federal arrangement already reached intolerable stage in one year.

Oromo elites need to evaluate their tolerance and silence before Oromia is divided and taken over by “vulture politicians” and Afan Oromo is limited only to the informal business like in the Pre-1991 Ethiopia. To protect Oromo interest and participate in the shaping of the future of Ethiopia, the Oromo elites must wakeup and challenge the idea which says “supporting Team Lemma is the only option” becauseTeam Lemma no longer exist. Rather theymust agree upon the principle and ideology around which to organize the Oromo and other peoples. They need to generate a current political discourse to exhibit and sell on Oromia and Ethiopian market place of ideas.If the elites who are best  educated, best informed, best exposed, and best enlightened simply follow the seasonal wind, who is  going to lead the society to the right direction? The Oromo elites, I want to humbly remind you that if you fail to stand up for the interest of Oromo at this critical moment, expose those who are trying to paint Oromo with their dirty and black paints, clear the misunderstandings created against Oromo, defend the unity of Oromo and integrity of Oromia, defend Oromo values and culture, advocate for your people when they are in need of advocate  know that you are contributing to the effort its adversaries to ruin Oromo and Oromia and it will be regrettable. This is a critical moment to ask yourself and evaluate your role in politics and contribute your share. I would like to remind you Plato’s advice regarding those who sit in the back and expect others to do good politics for them: “One of the penalties of refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors”.

Organization is a critical step in politics. Amhara intellectuals’ initiative to organize themselves and their May 18, 2019 decision to unselfishly serve the Amhara people in all sectors deserves kudos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7ULkFh4nZw and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATBIh_dL3_k). It is because of self-organization that Addis Ababa Caretaker Administration was established and started mobilizing supporters and resources to make the special interest of the State of Oromia in Addis Ababa which was stipulated under Article 49 (5) of the constitution of the FDRE null and void and to undermine the official Administration of Addis Ababa while Oromos are talking about this special interest for over24 years. Unless they organize themselves to defend their rights, Oromos will lose their constitutional and democratic rights one by one to those who organized themselves andmay see Oromia Caretaker Government led by non-Oromo elites. 

The egalitarian Oromos whose way of thinking have been shaped by the teachings of Gada system and group leadership must appreciate the role of powerful individuals, the role of money, and the role of influence in modern politics and must use them to promote and protect their interest. Consensus and direct democracy is not a viable option in the modern politics and Oromo elites need to embrace this fact and stand up, mobilize the majority and lead them to the victory.It is good to know one’s constituency and focus on the majority in that constituency rather than thinly spreading one’s capacity. Focusing on the majority in the target area is important because pleasing everybody is not possible in politics. Thus, the wishy-washy approach to fit within the sermon which looks dominant over the media that are controlled by the dominant elite group doesn’t help.After Dr. Abiy became a Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Oromo elites are dawdling while others are sprinting. Is the purpose of Oromo Protests to bring individual to Prime Minister Position or to get answer for Oromo’s constitutional and democratic questions?

The economic theory of Adam Smith which says “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest" also works in politics. The political prescriptions that the elites make for us is not really out of the concern for all of us, but out of the concern for themselves and for the group they want to benefit.  For example, the argument which discredits the representation of ethnic groups in federal offices and advocate for merit based appointment and hiring system is based on the assumption that their groups are relatively more educated, urbanized, and have access to those who appoint and hire and couldget more positions. Thus, it is necessary to evaluate each policy agenda that the elites present to us. We should not limit ourselves to be recipients of theproposed solutions of the few, rather we must be the generators of solutions; we should not limit ourselves to be the discussant of agenda crafted by few elites, rather we must be the crafters of agenda. In that way, we can bring competition to the idea market place and contribute to the existence of quality elites with integrity, maturity, and balanced ideas.If we allow few elites to run all our political affairs, they will manipulate it for their own benefits because more than any other groups of the society, the elites know that politics/power shapes the lives of the society and they use all means including myth, deceiving, fraud, influence, and force to control it.
 

In his May 28, 2019 interview with the Voice of Amharic (VOA) Amharic Program, Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed used the analogy of wedding party and life after the party to explain the role of elites and crowds in politics. He said the hustle and bustle at the eve and aftermath of change are like the hustle and bustle of wedding party but managing and leading the activities after the change is the business of few elites who took the leadership like leading the life after marriage is the responsibility of the wedded parties (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf1ZITapBPk). Prime Minister Dr. Abiy could be right, but the question is who are these few elites that took over the change and leading it and to which direction they are leading the changefor which many paid dearly?  These are our questions and concerns and the reason to call upon elites to play their role meticulously and responsibly.

Ethiopian citizenship without ethnicity is empty and Ethnicity without Ethiopian citizenship is blind

By Teodros Kiros (PH.D)

Introduction

Citizenship like food, shelter and clothing is a fundamental right. Like all rights it must be treasured like a public Good. Indeed, citizenship is the Good of the citizen. Citizenship is to the political animal, the human, as is food to the body. The body is the material structure upon which the citizen resides. The body is the temple of political culture. However, both food and citizenship must be earned by hard work. They are there to be gotten by legal means. Once both are peacefully secured, they must be protected and nurtured. Democracies must protect this right and not stifle its growth, silence, or simply ignore it , as is being done by the regime in power.


Ethiopia does not at the moment have either a leader or institutions which protect this right. Ethiopianity is simply an abstraction for the regime in power. 

The Ethiopian citizen expresses this right by freely performing her ethnic rights, duties and obligations.
We Ethiopians must fight for the birth of this right to take root in our political lives. We must say no to beautification and yes to the ending of poverty and the restoration of dignity, the dignity of the Ethiopian citizen.


The violation of our ethnic rights is the suppression of our Ethiopianity, the lynchpin of the idea of citizenship

 The Argument 

The recent fund raising Gala aimed at beautifying Ethiopia is an incompetent decision, which is neither timely or necessary. A competent regime, which we do not have, would have focused first on developing principles of justice which can be operationalized to feed, shelter and cloth the hungry ethnics of Ethiopia. The Ethiopian citizen does not need bike paths and parks at this moment, but decent housing and an end to the shanty towns where the Ethiopian poor are festering and gazing at stars.

This perpetual poverty can be eliminated by an effective and competent public policy guided by foundational principles of justice. Towards this end, I propose the following solutions.

Solutions

(1) The millions of dollars which the regime has must immediately be used to feed, shelter, cloth the millions of the poor whose budget is being cut, so that they can submit to the pseudo Ethiopianity which violates the natural and moral rights of the Ethiopian citizen.
 
(2) Future fund raising galas should be organized around the theme of addressing poverty and discord among the mosaic of ethnicities.


(3) Two principles of justice must be constitutionally mandated to address (1) and (2) above.


(A) That funds must be immediately allotted to address the poverty of the masses and affordable housing must be built for them. That the beautification of Ethiopia must be replaced by ending poverty through a constitutional mandate.


(B) The discord among ethnic elites which is filtering to the masses must be constitutionally abolished so that the multiple ethnicities could live harmoniously as I have argued in my recent articles. Experts and shimagles must be sought to attend to this grave issue, which might annihilate us, unless we build dikes now.


(C) Only after we solve (A) and (B) can we move to the project of Beautifying Ethiopia. Of course, this is a noble idea, and the regime must be praised for it, but it is neither practical or relevant at this tumultuous time. This project must wait and we must proceed lexically from (A) to (B) and then at the opportune time to (C). 

________________________________________

Ethnicity and Freedom of Movement

By Teodros Kiros (Ph.D)

Introduction 

Ethiopians are a historical people, known for their hospitality and gentleness, unless attacked, and deeply conscious of their historicity as founders of a world civilization, namely the great Abyssinia, also known as Ethiopia, of Cushitic and Semitic roots in one seamless whole. 
A long line of Greek thinkers beginning with the pre-Socrates to the great Aristotle have praised ancient Ethiopians for their endowments as tolerant and impeccably gentle, loving and heroic. We too should be proud of this legacy of our historicity. 

The argument 

Recently I argued that Ethiopia is a mosaic of ethnicities and that the challenge for any leader is developing the diplomatic art of organizing Ethiopian political life by a constitutionally mandated measure of harmony among the multiplicity of ethnic interests, passions and aspirations not by playing ethnics against one another but enabling them to live harmoniously and peacefully- free of suspicion. 
I now add another argument. The harmonious coordination of ethnics does not require that we organize in divisive political spaces. This might have served the interests of the previous regime to control political space, so that it could lead shrewdly. This unnecessary move is now undemocratic and unnecessary. Ethiopians must exercise their citizen rights to move in and out of their ethnic dwelling places, when they want to, and run for any office they wish, as residents of a given region.
Ethiopianity is precisely the democratic right which empowers Ethiopian ethnics to choose any space within society to live in and flourish by contributing to the prosperity of an Ethiopian Common Good, once it is articulated by the existing transitional regime.
All Ethiopians must be allowed freedom of movement without restrictions, which is the ultimate expression of a Citizen’s right. We need to amend the constitution to include the freedom of movement as an inalienable right that regimes cannot restrict. The recent displacement of millions of Ethiopians can be fixed by a single amendment which addresses it directly and bravely. This is exactly what the present Prime Minister should do to avoid a national tragedy.

The only qualification is that when an Amhara wants to run for a public office as a resident of Tigrai, she must speak the appropriate language so that she could effectively communicate with the public. This is a universal demand. For example, an Ethiopian who resides in the US and wants to run for an office, is expected to be fluent in English. This is a reasonable and practical demand, so is the requirement that one is fluent in the relevant language to run for any office in Ethiopia.

Solutions

(1) We must immediately correct the confusion on the ground that the imperative of mastering a language to blend and socialize with the lingua franca of a place is not necessarily discriminatory, other than an effective devise which facilitates living with others who speak different languages and have different values. Respect demands that we speak their language and accommodate them. They have the same rights as Ethiopians as we do.

(2) The regime in power must make concerted efforts to educate the public about their rights, duties and obligations. Every Ethiopian must respect every other Ethiopian and must also fulfill her duties and obligations. Rights presuppose duties and obligations and duties and obligations likewise must necessarily lead to respect. This practice must first be exhibited by the elites before it descends to the citizens.

(3) The Ethiopian state with the leadership of the Prime Minister must also play the role of the political educator by example and living practice, both of which we are now missing at the helms of power.

(4) The leader must first and foremost be an educator of those whom he leads. The leader, must lead by educating and his political performances must be guided by emotional intelligence, moral compass, mastery of issues, and fairly voicing the aspirations of all the ethnics.

Ethiopia is awaiting for a leader who can genuinely embody an Ethiopian Common Good.

Political shake-up and localism can edge Ethiopia forwards, By Rene Lefort

To end paralysis, the political landscape needs restructuring: resurgent grassroots democracy must smother elitism, starting with local elections.


 Student Movement activist Wallelign Mekonnen.

It is crystal clear that the still burning question in Ethiopia is over horizontal ties between “nations, nationalities and peoples” and their vertical relationship with the federal government. In other words, it is still the “question of nationalities”, as it has been since student movement activist Wallelign Mekonnen put pen to paper in 1969.
Berhanu Nega's liberals occupy one pole. Seven parties have merged to form the Ethiopian Citizens Party for Social Justice (In Amharic, Ezema). It advocates “citizen-based politics”. It if could rewrite the constitution, it would open with “We the people”, and not “We the nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia”. The demarcation of regional states would be on a geographical and not an ethnic basis, and the central power strong.

Opposing this are hardline ethnic federalists who want a loose union of quasi-sovereign states, or full autonomy for ethnic regions. Its most radical proponents believe in “consociationalist” federalism, in which states are equally represented, regardless of their population sizes – as occurs now in the EPRDF; to Tigray’s benefit because it has only six percent of the population. In this system, central key decisions are only taken if there is consensus, which gives each state a veto. There are strong ethno-national parties in Tigray, Somali, Oromia, and, most recently, Amhara.
The official stand of the parties ruling the most populous regions, and whose alliance brought Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to power, positions them in the middle of this spectrum. One of the main obstacles to the Amhara Democratic Party (ADP) and Oromo Democratic Party (ODP) effectively leading at the national and regional level is the tension between them. But there's also their heterogeneity: chunks of their leadership and membership have more ideological affinity with the National Movement of Amhara (NaMA) and Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). Rank and file as well as party cadres have de facto joined these groups, meaning there's minimal ruling party control of swathes of Oromia and Amhara.

The paralysis of EPRDF, and consequent power vacuum and troubled transition, are not only due to the friction between its component parts but also, and perhaps primarily, down to the rifts inside three of them (TPLF seems more cohesive, at least for now). To overcome the crisis, the political landscape must be reconstructed to cover this new spectrum.

Restructuring and reordering

The EPRDF as we know it is probably beyond repair. As Somali Region President Mustafa Omer rightly said, “the way to go forward would be to transform EPRDF from a Front into one party”; thus, a national de-ethnicized party, which Abiy Ahmed would obviously lead. TPLF, however, has made clear it would consider this an intolerable attack on its conception of the federal system. But while hunkered down in Tigray for now, TPLF has to re-engage nationally to lead the construction of the hard ethnic federalism pole in order to ensure its top priority: a strong, autonomous Tigray. Its experience, organization, and clarity of vision make it the only organization that can perform this task. For months Tigrayan websites have called for this decisive step.

A party leadership cannot effectively bargain without a clear stance backed by its membership.

It is probable that this reordering will stir plenty of ODP and ADP members to rally behind OLF or NaMA, and, for some Amhara, Ezema. This reordering will clarify new alliances and, more importantly, who is where on this evolving spectrum. Last but not least, by linking each party to an unequivocal political line, particularly ODP and ADP, this would homogenize them, and so make them more assertive and functional. This is a prerequisite for the effective national dialogue needed to overcome the impasse, as a party leadership cannot effectively bargain without a clear stance backed by its membership.

Buy local

The second scenario stems from the pervasive elitism of Ethiopian society. The upper classes are still convinced they are indispensable, as the only ones who could possibly lead the country. The people, willingly or coerced, must simply follow. This is true for this supposed democratic transition, as shown by the preoccupation with a so-called “grand elite bargain”.
But why should democratization be the exclusive preserve of the elite? Would it not be appropriate for it to also be driven from the grassroots? There is, after all, a strong tradition of capable local self-rule in Ethiopia.
Oromia has its well-known Gadaa system and in the old Ethiopia prior to the 1974 revolution, the basic administrative and social entity, the parish, was largely governed by a kind of strong “communal qualified democracy”. A tacit deal existed with the mengist and the people. As long as the latter paid taxes, maintained order through militia, and sustained imperial forces when they visited, they could rule themselves with minimal interference from higher authorities.

Why should democratization be the exclusive preserve of the elite?

They were sovereign on matters as important as how the tax burden was spread between different households, with the amount fixed by the district for the parish as a whole. The parish also managed land distribution and resolved disputes, because appealing to a judge was a last resort due to cost and risk. The parish even decided the land tenure system. For all these decisions, people were elected to various committees. The symbol of this sovereignty was the village assembly, usually held after the Sunday religious observance. The decisions were quasi-systematically taken by consensus.
The head of the parish, the lowest state official, was appointed from above. But he was commonly chosen from the “big men” of the parish, usually elders, either respected priests, or successful farmers. A researcher who studied a village at that time noted “a representative of the central power can govern only by building a legitimacy based on the creation of supporters through reciprocal obligation”. The appointed head of the parish had authority, but the power belonged to these big men. They had to compromise with each other.

That was the first limit condition of this “communal qualified democracy”. In addition, while any household head, male or female, was entitled to take the floor during the parish meeting, married women and most of the craftsmen were excluded. Patron-client relationships were the foundation of social stratification because the majority of the peasants needed to be helped. In the decision-making process, the latter had to support the positions of their patrons, yet a client dissatisfied with his patron could find another one. This is what made it a kind of qualified democracy.
This “communal citizenship” reached its peak in the few years after the 1974 downfall of Haile Selassie's regime and before the Derg's consolidation of power. The implementation of the fundamental land reform of 1975 was entrusted to the newly formed Peasant Associations, and they fulfilled their responsibilities successfully. But autonomy vanished when the Derg asserted control of the associations.

Total control and local elections

Arguably, the EPRDF intensified this process, producing the 1 to 5 apparatus for total control of the population. In 2008, it introduced the 300 candidates requirement for local elections, with the clear intention of making it virtually impossible for the opposition to compete. The thirst for communal power is strong with a key aim being to relax the EPRDF's iron grip, and this is even more so among the young, who were at the forefront of the unrest. Currently, the party's has largely faded: in numerous areas, local authorities are so delegitimized that they are authorities in name only.
The issue of local elections has been shoved to somewhere near the bottom of the political agenda. Yet one of the main gripes of the rural population is rightly that nothing tangible has changed ­– so this elite prioritization seems misplaced. From a technical point of view, local elections are easier to organize, and measures could be taken to reduce entry barriers for independent and opposition candidates. In addition, they may be less subject to violence, as they would be largely disconnected from the prevailing political partisanship, particularly at the kebele level: the voters will choose their representatives not primarily according to party loyalty, but more based on their social position and reputation in the community.

One of the main gripes of the rural population is rightly that nothing tangible has changed ­– so this elite prioritization seems misplaced.

Given the current deadlock, local elections would set the transition in motion and mark an important step forward. They would serve as a springboard for national elections, and be an important first tangible goal along the route to a new political settlement. The day-to-day life of ordinary people would change with the establishment of a local democratic space after it was neglected for more than four decades. New, more legitimate kebele leaders will improve security: purposeful leadership of hundreds of thousands of militia could tackle the petty crimes poisoning daily life. In addition, almost all agricultural development studies on Ethiopia highlight the need to “empower” farmers in order to boost their productivity.Could these two proposals see the light of day? Well, that depends on the whole political class starting to assume its responsibilities, and acting in a far-sighted manner.

(Source: OpenDemocracy)