|
|
President Girma
Woldegiorghis addresses the new Parliament
On Monday, President Girma Woldegiorghis
inaugurated a joint session of the new House of Peoples’
Representatives and of the House of Federation, following the
elections in May. Noting the success of those elections which he
described as “peaceful, democratic and credible”, the President
emphasized that the coming year would be particularly important as
it would lay the basis for the implementation of the Five Year
Growth and Transformation Plan. Based on the high growth rate over
the last seven years, and on the building of a successful democratic
system, President Girma said the Plan is expected to bring about a
fundamental structural change and lay a strong foundation for
Ethiopia’s renaissance. In preparation of the Growth and
Transformation Plan the Government had held a series of public
consultations in urban and rural areas, and gathered significant and
important inputs. The Government was now in the last stage of
finalizing the Plan which would be presented to Parliament for
endorsement. It will focus on strengthening the macro-economic
framework, and will give special attention to stabilizing grain
prices, increasing agricultural productivity and preventing
inflation from rising above the current single figure level by
taking action to balance money supply and growth. On the basis of
the recent adjustment of foreign exchange rates, it is expected that
the foreign exchange market will stabilize to encourage exports and
import substitution.
The President noted that the Growth and
Transformation Plan would require significant amounts of development
finance to develop renewable energy resources, and modern
telecommunications and infrastructure and expand land and air
transport. Loans and foreign assistance would make an important
contribution but the Government was planning to secure the decisive
portion of the necessary finance from domestic resources. It would
therefore be paying special attention to revenue collection and to
tax evasion as well as taking measures to develop a culture of
saving. It would also continue to carry out various activities to
increase job and wealth creation, expand participatory developmental
opportunities for women and youth in both urban and rural areas, and
design and implement social welfare programs. The President noted
that a salary increment would be given to civil servants in the
second half of the financial year.
The President also spoke of the efforts to
be made to strengthen and deepen the multi-party system in the
country, and to make sure institutions and organizations are in
place to encourage peoples’ participation. Consultation forums will
be set up to enable opposition parties that respect the constitution
to be involved in all aspects of public affairs. The President noted
that every effort would be made to build on the past efforts in
civil service and justice sector reform. Effective implementation of
the Growth and Transformation Plan required these should be informed
by developmental principles and the sense of service that govern the
political process. Laws and proclamations for the necessary reforms
would be promulgated and the necessary restructuring carried out.
President Girma also referred to security.
Steps will be taken, he said, to ensure internal peace and
stability, and to enhance citizens’ participation in this. The
Government would redouble its efforts either to deal with elements
working in collaboration with Eritrea and its sponsorship of
terrorism, or to persuade them into peaceful avenues. The Government
would remain vigilant in response to anyone attempting to
destabilize the region.
The President also referred to the House
of Federation which would be responsible for revising and adopting
the formula for the distribution of subsidies to the regional
states. It will carry out educational activities to raise levels of
understanding of the Constitution, and help enhance the country’s
decentralized political system. The House of Federation will also do
everything necessary to see that the Fifth International Conference
on Federalism, being held later this year, is successful.
The same day, the House of Representatives
re-elected the Chairman of the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary
Democratic Front, Ato Meles Zenawi, as Prime Minister. Ato Abadula
Gameda and Wo. Shitaye Minale were elected Speakers and Deputy
Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Ato Kassa Tekle Berhan,
Speaker of the House of Federation. The following day, Prime
Minister Meles announced the members of his new cabinet.
*****
As the new Foreign Minister, A Week in the
Horn would like to welcome Ato Hailemariam Desalegn, the deputy
chairman of the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front,
elected at its recent congress. He has also been appointed deputy
prime minister. A former deputy head and then president of the
Southern Regional State, Ato Hailemariam is also chairman of the
Southern Ethiopian Peoples Democratic Movement (SEPDM),
demonstrating the capacity for leadership to which Prime Minister
Meles has drawn attention. He takes over as Foreign Minister from
Ato Seyoum Mesfin, who held that position since the EPRDF came to
power in 1991. Ato Hailemariam was previously Government Whip in the
House of Representatives; he has also been Social Affairs Advisor to
the Prime Minister with the rank of Minister as well as chairing
several Boards, including the Privatization and Public Enterprises
Supervisory Agency and currently the Ethiopian Railway Corporation.
Ato Hailemariam studied engineering at university and after
graduation served as a lecturer and then as Dean of the Water
Technical Institute at Arbaminch in the Southern Regional State. He
entered politics and joined SEPDM when it was set up in November
1992, bringing together a total of 20 parties which subsequently
merged into a single movement a decade later.
******************
top |
|
Al-Shabaab losing
ground after its failed Ramadan offensive in Mogadishu
On 23 August, Al-Shabaab’s spokesperson in
Mogadishu, Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage held a press conference on the
outskirts of the city to declare ‘a final offensive”, calling for an
all-out attack on AMISOM and TFG forces to eliminate the invaders.
He called on the Mujahidin to wipe out foreign forces and those of
the TFG and destroy government bases, advising the public to dig
holes to protect themselves from AMISOM artillery. His statement was
immediately followed by a series of Al-Shabaab attacks from
different positions in Bondheere, Hodan and Howlwadaag districts of
the city, and the blocking of the main roads.
Earlier, the government had been promising
for several months to launch its own offensive against Al-Shabaab
positions in Mogadishu. As a result, Al-Shabaab had been building up
its own forces in preparation for this, and it was these forces it
used in its own Ramadan offensive. It had brought all of its own
forces into the capital city, while keeping a sizeable reserve of
untrained teenagers nearby. Ignoring statements from the
Organization of Islamic Clerics of Somalia that fighting the
government and AMISOM did not constitute a Jihad (a holy war), only
a political conflict, and that it wasn’t right to carry out fighting
during Ramadan, Al-Shabaab attacked on the 17th day of
Ramadan.
Before Al-Shabaab was halted and pushed
back at the end of the first week of fighting, hundreds of its young
teenage fighters had been killed, and more than eight hundred
wounded. Many of its fighters ran away. It appears Al-Shabaab itself
also killed more than a hundred of its own most seriously wounded on
the pretext of speeding them to paradise. This is a new phenomenon,
surprising many within its own ranks. Al-Shabaab also lost many of
its leading commanders and amirs. Following the defeat of Al-Shabaab
fighters, rejuvenated TFG forces have begun to extend their area of
control as people have begun to get confidence that Al-Shabaab
cannot overrun the government forces and positions as it claimed. In
fact, the latest fighting has helped people who had been living
under Al-Shabaab control to understand its true colors. Under
constant threat of death, they had been forced, however unwillingly,
to pay money and fight the “muctadiin” - those who go astray – as
Al-Shabaab clerics call the TFG.
There are a number of reasons why Al-Shabaab’s
Ramadan offensive was defeated. AMISOM forces were just too
powerful. Many of its fighters were simply untrained youth, forced
or persuaded into its ranks by false propaganda. There was a visible
lack of popular support for Al-Shabaab after it had carried out a
whole series of barbaric actions. Most ordinary people are now aware
that it is not carrying out the religious activity it claimed to do,
but was rather operating some foreign instigated ideology which
actually contradicts Islamic principles. The killing of innocents,
amputations and suicide bombings can all be considered unethical in
traditional Somali culture, and Al-Shabaab propaganda has begun to
lose its effect. People have started reacting against Al-Shabaab.
Earlier this week, some Al-Shabaab warehouses and other properties
in Arafat district were looted.
Al-Shabaab itself has also begun to be
affected by internal disagreements. There was dispute about the
timing of the offensive. Once Al-Shabaab forces failed to advance
towards State House, disputes over tactics and strategy began to
surface. Other divisions have become apparent. According to sources
inside Al-Shabaab, one main cause of conflict arose over financial
matters. As a result Sheikh Muktar Robow Abu Mansur has withdrawn
the Al-Shabaab fighters from the Digil and Mirifle clans. He has
also demanded that the Amir of Al-Shabaab, Ahmed Abdi Aw-Mohamed
‘Godane’ and Fu’ad Mohamed Khalaf Shangole, who commanded the
offensive in Mogadishu, should resign. Fu’ad Shangole recently went
down to Kismayo to try to recruit more forces, even seizing children
as young as ten to be trained at the old meat factory there.
The foreign element within Al-Shabaab is
trying to resolve what amounts to a power struggle between the top
leadership. This is not, however, the first time for Al-Shabaab
leaders to fight among themselves. Al-Shabaab is losing public
support at a surprising rate, from the pressures caused by forced
levies and an enforced Jihad, and from its links to Al-Qaeda’s
unpopular and radical version of religion. Power within Al-Shabaab
now appears to be falling into the hands of a more militant and
extreme group within the organization. There is therefore, a need
for the government to remobilize itself quickly. President Sheikh
Sharif should nominate a new prime minister as quickly as possible,
and do this in consultation with the Speaker of Parliament, so that
a vote of confidence can be carried out in a proper and credible
manner. The unity and cohesion of the TFG leadership must be
demonstrated in a concrete manner as the international community has
demanded. This would encourage the international community to
realize the promises it has made and move forward urgently. The
promises made at the Mini-Summit in New York and the subsequent ICG
meeting in Madrid should be fulfilled as soon as the TFG moves to
address the challenges it faces. The setback to Al-Shabaab caused by
the defeat of its Ramadan offensive is only a setback. It lost
heavily and this, and its internal disputes, has led to its
withdrawal from a number of places in Mogadishu and elsewhere. This
provides a real opportunity for the international community to
redeem its promises and take immediate action to support the TFG and
the Djibouti Peace Process.
Meanwhile, the President of Somaliland,
Mr. Ahmad Muhammad Silanyo, has accused the Eritrean government of
training and arming Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) forces
and then smuggling them into Somaliland to clandestinely cross the
border into Ethiopia. The President made his statement at a
graduation ceremony at the University of Hargeisa earlier this week.
He condemned the Eritrean government for organizing and sponsoring
the landing of ONLF fighters on Somaliland soil, calling it an act
of terrorism, a gross interference in Somaliland's affairs, and a
threat to neighboring countries. The President emphasized that the
Somaliland government has now taken steps to counter this and other
threats to the country's security. It would also take further
measures to prevent any repetition of such activity. The group of
about 240 ONLF terrorists trained and armed by Eritrea tried to
enter Ethiopia via Somaliland last month. They were surrounded on
the border between Somaliland and Ethiopia and have been either
killed or captured. One result of the incursion was that Eritrea was
not welcomed at the recent UN’s Mini-Summit on Somalia in New York.
*****************
top |
|
President Isaias’
version of Eritrea: Prosperous and Normal!
This week President Isaias Afeworki of
Eritrea convened one of his rare cabinet meetings, taking the
opportunity to lecture his lieutenants at length on a range of
issues both domestic and regional. His ‘extensive briefing’ was full
of superlatives regarding what he claims to be Eritrea’s continuing
all-round success in various areas. Hearing President Isaias relate
it, one is forced to ask if this is indeed the same country the rest
of the world knows about. There was nothing of the grim picture from
which Eritrean nationals flee in their hundreds almost daily. The
rosy picture the President offered even included significant
progress in the areas of media and justice, the very areas in which
Eritrea is believed to have fared the worst. The General Assembly of
the East African Journalists Association, which closed a three day
meeting last weekend, noted specifically that some thirty Eritrean
journalists had remained jailed, since September 2001, making
Eritrea the greatest jailer of journalists in Africa. The Eritrea
Government holds these journalists incommunicado, without charge or
trial, defying repeated calls and appeals for their release.
According to the President, however, there
is literally no area in which Eritrea has failed to register huge
successes. Indeed, as so often, he goes on to warn Eritreans to
remain vigilant against “external forces” and “enemy quarters” who
are frustrated from failing in their agenda and will stop at nothing
to prevent “Eritrea’s progress from getting added momentum”. On
regional issues, President Isaias blamed what he called unilateral
strategic errors and the resulting “external interference” for the
“delicate” situation obtaining in the region. Eritrea, however, he
claimed would continue to offer “as always” its policy of
“constructive engagement” in the region, in line with “its correct
and clear stance of promoting the common interests and aspirations
of the peoples of the whole region.” This is a surprising claim
coming from a government and its leader whose track record has
consistently been anything but constructive.
Indeed, conspicuously missing in any of
his marathon briefings has been any indication that his government
might be willing to try and resolve its differences with the
international community without resorting to his usual technique of
offering to give way to a minimal degree when forced into a corner.
Nor did the President offer any kind of acknowledgement that he
might have made any mistake. Neither the agreement with Djibouti nor
the overtures that the leadership has tried to make to some elements
in the UN were mentioned.
In fact, President Isaias appears poised
to defy the international community even more obviously than before.
Once again, for Eritrea, it is the international community, not
Eritrea, which is in the wrong. Eritrea therefore expects the
international community to get its act together and accept Eritrea’s
views. It is Eritrea which has a monopoly over what constitutes the
right path towards peace in Somalia. It is the government in Asmara
that everyone else must follow if they are serious about bringing
about lasting solutions to most of the conflicts in the region and
in particular in Somalia. Eritrea, President Isaias claims
unabashedly, holds the key to every problem that is bedeviling the
region.
In one way, of course, President Isaias
may well be right. It is after all Eritrea which has single-handedly
made enemies of almost all its neighbors. It is Eritrea which has
armed and trained dozens of insurgent groups and terrorist elements
throughout most countries in the region. It is Eritrea which
continues to arm and equip the likes of Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam
in defiance of persistent calls by the international community to
stop such destabilizing activities. Eritrea could indeed contribute
a great deal to resolving many of the conflicts in the region if it
genuinely wished to do so, not as a mere gimmick to try to get
itself off the hook of sanctions but in a manner consistent with the
rules governing normal state-to-state relations.
This would also mean that Eritrea and its
leaders would have to change their ways, and learn, however
difficult the process might be, to follow the norms of international
behavior. In actuality, if its recent indications of continued
support to Al-Shabaab are any guide, the regime in Asmara can only
be described as incorrigible. Even after all their promises to
senior UN officials to encourage ‘the moderate’ elements of
extremist organizations into peaceful paths, the leaders of Eritrea
still continue to extend all kinds of support to Al-Shabaab and
similar extremist and terrorist organizations. That is why the
international community should take care not to fall for the
rhetoric of President Isaias or his government’s tricks. That is
also why the international community should also start to take the
necessary concrete steps to back up its words with deeds, with the
full implementation of the UN Security Council’s Resolution 1907.
*****************
top |
|
Core Principles
of Ethiopia’s Foreign Policy: Ethiopia-Yemen relations
Ethiopia and The Republic of
Yemen have deep rooted and symbiotic historical and cultural
relations signified by the shared legends of the Queen of Sheba and
Abraha, a viceroy for the Emperors of Axum in the 6th
century. Indeed, relations between the two countries are so rich in
all aspects that one can only mention the highlights. There is a
strong resemblance in terrain and in the architectural design of
buildings both in Yemen and in various parts of Ethiopia,
underlining the strong ties between the two countries. Geez and
Sabean alphabets are very similar, emphasizing the long and strong
cultural relations. The free movement of people from one to the
other since ancient times has made the assimilation of the peoples
of the two countries both possible and easy. Today, there are
thousands of Ethiopians living in different parts of Yemen; at the
same time many Yemenis live in Ethiopia. The presence of the Yemeni
Community School in Addis Ababa is one indication of this fact. It
plays a substantive role in strengthening people-to-people
relations. Yemenis have not forgotten that Ethiopia provided a place
of sanctuary for many Yemenis during the rule of the Imams after the
2nd World War before the Yemen Arab Republic was set up
in 1962. In turn, Ethiopia is deeply indebted to those Yemeni troops
who came to fight for Ethiopia to help stop the aggression of Siad
Barre, the then dictator of Somalia, in 1977-78.
Diplomatic relations between
Ethiopia and Yemen were inaugurated in 1935. Relations continued
even when Yemen was divided into two separate states, and have
continued since the unification in 1990. Since then Ethiopia and The
Republic of Yemen have had their embassies in Sana’a and Addis Ababa
respectively. Relations today between the two states are
excellent, operating on the basis of
history, kinship and family reinforced by a joint approach and
attitude towards bilateral relations in regional policies, in
economics and in trade. There have been a number of high
level visits from each country, though bilateral relations really
only flourished on a major scale after the fall of the Derg and the
EPRDF’s coming to power. Today, Ethiopia and Yemen have a Joint
Consultative Commission (JCC) that operates at ministerial level.
This was set up to follow up implementation of the various
agreements, political, economic and social, that have been signed at
different times. The two countries have an excellent record of
cooperation in fighting terrorism, human trafficking, and other
illegal acts, and this aspect of cooperation can certainly be
expected to continue and expand.
The volume of trade between
Ethiopia and Yemen is less than might be expected between two
sisterly countries, but it is on the increase. Ethiopia exports to
Yemen mainly consists of cattle and livestock as well as other
agricultural products; it imports various consumer goods, including
chemical compounds. There is ample scope for increasing trade
activities between the two nations based on the principles of
comparative advantages and South-South Cooperation. Indeed, Yemeni
investors have now started looking towards Ethiopia on a substantial
scale. A number of joint activities have been set up and some are
now operational. The numbers can be expected to rise sharply as
numerous other projects have been approved but not yet implemented.
There is a Joint Implementation Follow-up Committee that looks after
the implementation of projects and the resolution of problems that
investors might encounter. A Memorandum of Understanding for the
creation of a “Joint Business Council” has also been signed between
the respective Chambers of Commerce. These are essential
pre-conditions to help expand economic relations between Ethiopia
and Yemen. They also indicate the interest of both countries to take
their relationship to the highest possible level.
Yemen and Ethiopia also co-operate
extensively in multilateral forums. Together with Sudan, Ethiopia
and Yemen were co-founders of the Sana’a Forum for Cooperation, set
up in 2002. This plays a pivotal role in bringing some of the
countries of the Horn of Africa and Yemen together. The Forum is
currently composed of five members with the Republic of Djibouti and
the TFG of Somalia becoming members. The aims of the Sana’a Forum
include enhancing co-operation in the areas of economics, trade,
investment and tourism as well as social development, education and
health in the Horn of Africa, as well as addressing the political
and security interests of member states in the southern part of the
Red Sea.
A joint concern for the Forum as well as
for Ethiopia and Yemen is terrorism and piracy which affects the
southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Ethiopia, of course, has no
coastline but the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden are major waterways
and piracy affects Ethiopia’s trade through Djibouti and has serious
economic implications for both Ethiopia and Yemen with insurance and
other costs rising. Yemen and Ethiopia agree that solution of the
problem lies in Somalia and without stability there, piracy cannot
be solved.
As we have noted, Ethiopia and Yemen have
excellent relations sharing many common interests at both bilateral
and multi-lateral levels, sharing information and acting jointly on
issues like terrorism and the peace and security of the sub region.
There is every reason to believe this will continue. Equally,
Ethiopia strongly believes that such a relationship can and will
continue to expand and progress as the impact of development in
either country is felt fully - there are still a number of
additional fields of cooperation that have yet to be fully explored.
*****************
top |
|
