By RFPosted on 01-07-2019Modified on 01-07-2019 at 19:08

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed delivered his annual speech to parliament on Monday (July 1st). His intervention, initially scheduled last Monday, had been postponed because of what the federal authorities describe as an attempted "coup d'etat" perpetrated by an Amhara nationalist militia, Saturday, June 22.

In front of the deputies, the head of the Ethiopian government wanted to highlight the challenges that he was able to answer, after one year in power, but he also touched on the delicate question of the federal Constitution, while the nationalist demands multiply in Ethiopia.

This time, Abiy Ahmed wore a suit and a tie and no longer the camouflage outfit he had appeared in last week after the June 22 coup . In an intervention longer than usual, he defended his major decisions such as emptying prisons, including all political actors in civilian life, making peace with Eritrea, liberalizing the economy or repatriating as much as possible. possible among the three million IDPs. He also talked about unemployment, macroeconomics and growth.

Abiy Ahmed, however, was expected on political questions, a week after what he still qualified without hesitation " failed coup d'etat " of Amharas nationalists, and especially on the question of the Federal Constitution with which hardly make up the nations that form Ethiopia.

For him, the founding text can actually be amended but by the ballot box, not by force.

" The Constitution belongs to the people, not the inhabitants of a neighborhood, " he said.

The Prime Minister also said he heard the pressing demands of some people like the Sidamas, for more autonomy, but urged them to be patient.

Finally, he called the Ethiopians to unity. " If it were threatened, we will not hesitate to trade the pen for the Kalashnikov, " he said.

The challenge of nationalist revivals

In the view of all observers, the rising nationalist demands in Ethiopia are the result of the poorly controlled political openness that brought Oromo Abiy Ahmed to power in a huge and fragile federal country of nine nationalities. Last week, it was the Amhara claim that attracted attention after the coup of a nationalist general in this northwestern state. But what is the story of this people who gave Ethiopia its language and its alphabet? What is its role in recent history and, above all, what challenge does the awakening of nationalism pose to one of the greatest countries in Africa? These are the questions that RFI asked independent researcher René Lefort, one of the best connoisseurs of the Ethiopian world.

The question that divides the political class and is unable at this stage to deal with it is how and on what basis will the different peoples, nations, nationalities of Ethiopia live together

René Lefort

01-07-2019 - By Léonard Vincent

    On the same subject

    Ethiopia: Can the Prime Minister keep the fragile balance of the country?

    Attempted coup in Ethiopia: the government makes a first assessment

    Ethiopia: arrest of members and sympathizers of the Amhara Nationalist Party

    Ethiopia: a "regional coup attempt" and not federal

    comments