Contested Politcs in Ethiopia, Post of 2018; Challenges and Prospects of the Ruling Party

The theme of this paper is to highlighting the political, economic, democratic, historical dilemmas and realities that occurred in the Ethiopian political system in 2018 through popular rebellion; futuristic hinders and chances of the ruling party to sustain its popularity and prosperity of the country. Talk of Ethiopia conjures a whole range of metaphors and contradictory perceptions and misconceptions. With the ascendance to power of Dr. Abiy Ahmed, as Prime Minister of Ethiopia on April 2, 2018, the strategic Horn of Africa country is back in the global limelight. The political excitement in Ethiopia has not yet died out even though there is guarded or cautious optimism. Part of the reason why there is such great excitement about both Ethiopia and current ruling party members is the manner in which the political transition took place. First, there were massive protests across the country that nearly tore the country apart. Second, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn did the honorable thing and resigned amidst rising political tensions, supposedly to pave way for radical political reforms and to be part of such process. Analysts are still guessing what this process would be. What is well known is that the ruling Ethiopian People‘s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF)--a coalition of ethnically based parties—painstakingly held lengthy meetings and finally settled for Dr. Abiy as the chairperson of the ruling party and subsequently was endorsed as the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. The rest, as they say, is history. 

While the current ruling party (PP) political honeymoon is still on, it is important to ponder and ruminate over the mythical and mysterious polity known as Ethiopia, which has puzzled scholars for centuries if not millennia. A lot has been written and will continue to be written about this fascinating African polity, popularly nicknamed the ―Land of origins.‖ This is because of the archeological findings of the oldest hominid called ―Lucy‖ or ―Dinknesh‖in Amharic. By this fact alone, Ethiopia is placed in an interesting historical epoch and stands in a class of its own in the entire world. Not to forget that Ethiopia also is very much talked about in the Biblical narratives right from the Old Testament (Cush in Genesis, Moses having married an Ethiopia in Exodus, the Queen of Sheba‘s historical visit to Jerusalem to seek the wisdom of King Solomon, the Ethiopian Eunich of the Acts of the Apostles who was baptized by the Apostle Philip, after he had read from the book of prophet Isaiah). 

I will use Pan-African and Afro-Politian conceptual and theoretical frameworks to shed some light on Dr. Abiy‘s Ethiopia in the broader global political economy. It is important to state right away that Ethiopia remains an enigmatic polity that defies clear cut categorization and conceptualization. One of the main goals for this piece is to start what will be a long discourse about Ethiopia amidst the current political trajectory that Dr. Abiy has embarked on, as a dynamic, forwarding looking, Pan-African, peace and security analyst and young leader. This is an aspirational and prescriptive approach since it is too early to tell what Dr. Abiy‘s political and economic performance will be in the years to come.

The continental context and mood is that of the much talked about Africa rising narrative, Agenda 2063, Sustainable Development Goals, demographic dividend, African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA), and the increasing 

attractiveness of Africa as a choice destination for foreign direct investment. Since Dr. Abiy‘s Ethiopia is home to the AU, one cannot talk about the destiny and fortunes of one ignoring the other. Ethiopia is, in a way, the mirror of the entire African continent‘s paradoxes and contradictions: (1) rich and complex cultural diversity; (2) simmering ethno-politics; (3) underdevelopment amidst enormous natural resources and financial illicit flows; (4) brain-drain amidst limited capacity; (5) nascent democratic and governance institutions; (6) tension between tradition and modernity; (7) centrifugal and centripetal political and economic forces; (8) tension between the sacred and the secular; (9) increasing gap between rich and poor; (10) Quest for home-grown solutions while heavily relying on foreign aid, foreign direct investment and imported goods and services. We can call these challenges as ten problems with African development. Fix them would brought new boom of prosperity light to all Africa in general and Ethiopia in particular.