Beyene Petros of Medrek Slams the Revolutionary Centralism State Structure in Ethiopia
Dr. Beyene Petros, the current chairman of the Medrek opposition coalition challenging the Zenawi government in the May 2010 elections, ridicules the claim by the Zenawi government that the current Ethiopian state structure is ‘federal.’ He argues that the appropriate name for the current state structure is “revolutionary centralism,” where states are directly and indirectly controlled by the ruling party (TPLF) from the central government.
Dr. Petros cites examples to show the current system is top-down, instead of bottom-up; examples include the chronic fiscal dependency of some states on the “federal government”, the repression of calls for statehood (such as the Sidama people in the Southern Regional State), the shuffling of even those officials holding elected positions by the ruling party, the inappropriate designation of the Upper Chamber (House of Federation) as a body tasked with interpreting the Constitution (even though it’s a legislative body), and the unjust distribution of resources between the “federal government” and the states (i.e. most of incoming-generating resources are still owned by the “federal government”).
Watch Parts Two and Three below (Part One was published yesterday, but it’s also provided here for quick reference).
PART TWO:
More Election Related Videos: http://gadaa.com/Election2010Video.html
PART THREE:
More Election Related Videos: http://gadaa.com/Election2010Video.html
PART ONE:
More Election Related Videos: http://gadaa.com/Election2010Video.html
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