The Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abi Ahmed, won two important votes. In March 2018, the Ethiopian ruling coalition appointed him Prime Minister. Last October, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded him the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, after being impressed by his subsequent human rights actions and the conclusion of a peace agreement with Eritrea.
Now Abi Ahmed has a real test, which is winning the elections in August, when his (luxury) party faces the Ethiopian People's Party in general elections. If the competitions are free and fair, as Abi Ahmed promised, there is no guarantee that his party will win or fail.
What is happening in Ethiopia is of great importance to the continent. After 15 years of nearly double-digit growth, the second largest country in Africa in terms of population (about 114 million people) managed to change its stigmatized image to become a talisman for development on the continent. Although still very poor, it has made great strides in health, education and poverty reduction. Life expectancy increased from 52 at the end of the century to 67. The economy boomed more than 10-fold in the same period. Despite complaints that the elite has accounted for the country's capabilities, Ethiopia is one of the countries of the African continent where income is distributed fairly.
All this happy story amazes one thing: bitter political reality. While Abi Ahmed is still loved abroad, his image inside is distorted. The peace process with Eritrea has stalled. Opponents say Abi Ahmed is a conceited man, and he is thirsting for power. "We fought with each other against a regime controlled by one party," says his former ally, Jawar Muhammad, who has turned into a political rival. "Now he is trying to create a single system that is dominated by one person."
The monthly Addis Standard magazine accuses Abi Ahmed of again filling prisons with political prisoners and carrying out military bombing of the armed opposition forces in Oromia, the most densely populated area. Ethnic discrimination in the airwaves, the government passed a controversial law criminalizing hate speech. Much of the backlash is related to a complex dispute between Abi Ahmed, the “pro-Ethiopian patriotism,” which stresses the unity of the state, and those who view the nation from an ethnic perspective. Visitors who refer to Ethiopia as a "nation" are often said to be "a nation of a group of nations" under the constitution.
The 1995 constitution, enacted after the ouster of the Marxist regime in 1991, emphasized ethnicity, dividing the country into nine regions that are assumed to be an integral part of ethnicity. And this was approved to camouflage in part on the fact that this country was ruled by the Tigray Nationalism, who make up only 6% of the population, but who led the revolution and implemented reforms that led to staggering growth. Through a seemingly commendable policy, Abi Ahmed has sought to downplay the importance of race. He developed the concept of "synergy" and, in a different way, harnessed the power grab in the name of national unity.
Abi Ahmed also dissolved the Revolutionary Democratic Front of the Ethiopian People, the former ruling coalition made up of ethnic parties from Oromia, Amhara, Tigray, and Southern Nations, and replaced them with the decentralized Economic Prosperity Party. His advisers insist that this is the right thing to do, as previously marginalized minorities were brought into the political process, but the Tigray political establishment, largely dismissed by Abi Ahmed, refused to join.
In other regions as well, the message of unity carried by Abi Ahmed was counter-productive. Ironically, the opposition in Oromiya, his region, is among the most intense of the local opponents, who violently celebrated in 2018 the rise of Abi Ahmed, as a victory for a marginalized people.
While Abi Ahmed is still loved abroad, his image inside has been distorted, and the peace process with Eritrea has stalled. Opponents say Abi Ahmed is a conceited man, and he is thirsting for power.