Despite its policy alternatives and strategic direction it claims to have, Belaye argued that it is difficult to promote these to the electorate due to alleged limits of access to the public media. (Belaye Fikadu)
Spare parts retailer Sied Kebede, 37, is a resident in the political hub of the country, Addis Abeba; yet he does not feel like the fifth national election is just around the corner. There are only five months until the elections are to be held, but he represents many voters who are confused, if at all interested, about whether there are strong political parties that will take part in the election and challenge the ruling party, the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).
“There seems to be an air of reluctance, in terms of political activism, when I compare it to the 2005 national election,” said Sied.
Despite this, political parties are gearing up for the May 24 election, as the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) declared the names of the 60 parties of the 75 it recognizes which took their election symbols, 22 of which are planning to run nationwide. Various parties are holding demonstrations and meetings to present their policy options to the public, sometimes resulting in scuffles with the authorities as was the case with Semayawi (literally translated as Blue) Party two weeks ago. Its leaders tried to stage an overnight sit-in protest at Mesqel Square, but were forewarned against by city officials who claimed the site is where active public infrastructure work is taking place. Final confrontation with the police led to the round up of their leaders who reported upon their release, abuse in the hands of law enforcement.
A new comer to the political scene, Semayawi Party is trying to get the attention of voters such as Sied, contending not only with the incumbent, but also the main opposition coalition, the Forum for Democratic Dialogue in Ethiopia, a.k.a Medrek.
Established in 2008, Medrek was the only opposition political party that was able to secure one seat in the Parliament during the 2010 election, stunning political pundits for its formidable challenge to the ruling EPRDF, particularly in Addis Abeba. The party now says that it has its own program and manifesto which tries to reflect the current economic and political situation of the country, and, in return, reflect the party’s options. With the ambition to transfer the coalition to a front that is based on shared minimum program, it produced a program on June 14, 2009.
Its manifesto, issued in March 2013, sees a country in deep economic turmoil, though the incumbent claims a record double-digit growth, subsequently for the past 10 years. Regardless, Medrek attributes this failure to the political and economic directions taken by the EPRDF. By way of example, the manifesto attributed the contemporary problems in economic development to EPRDF’s dogmatic ideology of Revolutionary Democracy. It claims: “There is no connection between democracy and economic development,” and says the regime has failed to show progress on both fronts.
“If this state of false propaganda continues unchecked, it can result in further damage to the well-being of the nation, the peace and stability of the people and the growth of the economy,” claims Medrek in its manifesto.
It is a statement of faith in that Medrek is against state interference in the market, which it claims discourages the private sector. Its current chairman, Beyene Petros, a veteran in opposition politics ever since he had left his ministerial position at the Ministry of Education during the transition period in early 1990s, says his coalition aims to build a “strong state and a strong market,” where both the private and the public sectors will be given due attention.
“The government will abolish state monopoly in the production, as well as service, sectors, and more due attention will be given to the private sector in relations to the role of the state,” said Beyene, a professor teaching at the Addis Abeba University.
He emphasised that the private sector should be given the chance to have a role in running major utilities such as telecommunications and electric power, a position that stands contrary to the ruling EPRDF’s policy of retaining them under the state’s hold.
Bringing onboard close to four political parties, Medrek wants to travel half way to meet opposition parties on both sides of the political aisle. The fault lines run into those who support the federal system based on linguistic and cultural identity and other who pour scorn on it as “ethnic federalism.” The same is true between those who would like to see land remain as a property of the state against those who would wish to amend the constitution to allow private ownership of land.
Yet, Medrek remains shy and elusive at best on its position of land ownership, promoting private ownership of land by farmers, but short of letting them sell or transfer it. Its main architects at birth, such as Beyene, Merera Gudina (PhD), Seyee Abraha, Negasso Gidada (PhD) and Gebru Asrat – the later three were purged from the ruling EPRDF – had failed to strike a deal with the leadership of Unity for Democracy & Justice (UDJ) on the issue.
An offshoot of the Coalition for Unity & Democracy (CUD), an opposition coalition with historic electoral gains during the 2005 elections, UDJ was a force Medrek reckoned with during its formation to postpone thorny political issues such as land and federalism. Nonetheless, UDJ did not stay longer than four years with the coalition and parted ways to contend the upcoming elections on its own traction. It has a forthright policy stand that land in the northern part of the country should be owned privately with the right to sell and transfer it at the owners’ will. Grazing land, land identified for public services and highways should stay as communal property, while land uninhabited until they are distributed to the public through rent or lease, should be under the state’s hold, says UDJ.
Claiming to have operating 30 offices in eight regional states and a presence in Somali Regional State, UDJ leaders say they will distribute their policy alternatives through a campaign dubbed “Ye Millionoch Demtse” – millions voice – next week. It wants to challenge the incumbent’s growth model as “state capitalism”, which resulted in a complete state hold at the expense of the private sector, according to Belay Fekadu, president of UDJ.
“Such a move, our party believes, is the cause for not having sustainable economic growth,” Belay argues. “The much talked about development isn’t representative of reality.”
His party’s concern lies on what its leaders describe as “unfair wealth distribution” where the gap between the poor and the rich is widening. Limiting the role of the state in the economy – apart from intervention in selected sectors – and focusing public resources in the provision of basic services, are economic policy directions UDJ wants to promote in the upcoming election.
If there are views UDJ shares either with Medrek or Semayawi Party, it is on what they would do with the state owned enterprises, particularly those of the utility companies.
“ethio telecom is the most ineffective institution, under the control of the state,” says Belay.
He too would like to see the private sector provided more space in running these state monopolies, hoping private businesses can infuse competitiveness and innovation in the industries.
Despite the policy alternatives and strategic direction it claims to have, UDJ’s leader say it is difficult to promote these to the electorate due to alleged limits of access to the public media. The party used to publish a newspaper, Finote Netsanet, which resumed publication a month ago, after it was interrupted for two years due to unavailability of printing presses, Belay told Fortune.
This argument may be justified, but opposition parties should not use this as an excuse, says Solomon Mabre, assistant professor at Addis Abeba University’s Department of Political Science & International Relations. Each party must work on strengthening its internal organization, and putting party discipline in place, he said.
Operating in the Ethiopian political scene since 2011, another political party, Semayawi says, it too shares problems of access to the media by the political parties. The state control on media is a factor which makes it difficult for Semayawi to promote its policies and strategies, Yonatan Tesfaye, head of public relations office of the party, told Fortune. Semayawi also used to publish a magazine, Negere Ethiopia, for about a year; but stopped six months ago due to fear and distress that the printing press owners have about printing political magazines, according to Yonathan.
As an ideological orientation, the party claims to champion progressive liberal democracy. It is illustrated in its program that the ideology guarantees individual rights and, at the same time, social rights are also given consideration. Yonatan argues that the economic progress claimed by the ruling party is contrary to what is on the ground, and Semayawi believes that it is worsening.
The party prefers to see the development progress of the country in two phases: pre and post 2005 election. Semayawi argues that the later was the era characterised by a downward movement in the economy. Even if the incumbent party claims differently, the beneficiaries from the claimed economic progress are few, Yonathan noted.
However, another political party, the Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP), recognises the economic growth performance registered under the incumbent EPRDF.
A prominent member of the coalition under the CUD back in 2005, EDP paid a political price for its leaders decision to part ways and decided to join Parliament. It has been struggling to reclaim its place among the electorate, but unable to win even one seat in the federal parliament in the 2010 national elections.
Its leaders want to position the party as one championing liberalism, in their 2002 program document, which has six volumes. It deals with issues from the economy to social development and state structure, to political strategies, government arrangement.
Chane Kebede (PhD), president of EDP, taking the mantra from Mushie Semu, believes these documents debunk “EPRDF’s misrepresentation” that the opposition political parties do not propose any policy alternatives.
“We championed liberalism as an end goal, but this does not mean we will immediately put liberal ideas on the ground if voters trust us to govern the country,” said Chane.
EDP is on the same page with other opposition parties such as UDJ and Semayawi on the issue of land ownership, which is one of, if not the most, contentious points of argument in Ethiopian political dynamism. Neither are its categories of land based on ownership – private, communal and state – radically divergent from the other opposition political parties.
They all want to see peasants who own land to have rights to fully control it and transfer it as they see fit.
Although EDP has no issues with federalism as an appropriate tool of governance, it criticizes the incumbent for giving emphasis to what it describes as “ethnic federalism.”
People are unable to go beyond their respective regional states in order to engage in many economic activities, invest their money and accumulate wealth, noted Chane. EDP wants to see other factors – such as geography – incorporated in determining the creation of states under the federation.
Where EDP differs is in its approach that its former leaders such as Lidetu Ayalew and Mushe promoted as the “third option” political approach. This strategy, largely discussed in the book entitled Medelot, authored by Lidetu, arguably the most controversial politician, views the politics of tolerance and compromise as a solution to run the politics of the country, as it believes that Ethiopian politics is poisoned by zero-sum game, where political groups advocate extreme positions.
Despite their positions in the extremes or in moderation, Ethiopia’s opposition parties are all confronted by a mammoth task of putting an electoral challenge to the ruling EPRDF, a coalition of four in power for over two decades and holding 99.6pc of seats in the current parliament.
EPRDF aims to repeat this in the forthcoming election, say it leaders.
Claiming to have a membership base of six million, EPRDF will go to the electorate with the success that it has achieved to date in political, social and economic fronts, says Desta Tesfaw, public and foreign relations head of the EPRDF. These are achievements the incumbent wants to promote in successive growth of the GDP, expansion of public infrastructure, promotion of social welfare in health and education, and ensuring order and stability. Yet to be public, the incumbent has its leaders endorsed their electoral manifesto which pundits see is a document of policy continuity.
Yet, as the relationship between the opposition parties and the incumbent is characterised by antagonism, and mired by the opposition’s accusation that the ruling party deprives them of space to operate within the electorate. Despite Desta’s pledge that the ruling party is resolved to ensure “free and legitimate election” come May 2015, the EPRDF has its share of trading blames, pointing its fingers at its political opponents. Its sees them as forces with no clear policy alternative but aspires to power through unconstitutional manners.
Such tense political climate has impacted the electorate negatively, as the majority of them have little knowledge about the parties’ respective programs and policy options, Solomon believes.
Nonetheless, Seid says he is prepared to vote in the upcoming election, if he sees what he calls, “the best opposition political party” is campaigning. But he remains skeptical in the run up to voters’ registration NEBE scheduled from January 9 to February 19, 2015, where 33 million voters are projected to register, joined by additional one million first-time voters.