Derg’s Proclamation of rural land had brought land under public ownership and urban land under government ownership. . Weyane have brought all land under government ownership. Government has become landlord and poor farmers have become tenants of the government.
There is a common mistake in providing an sensible and satisfactory analysis of weaknesses during the EPRDF government. Prof. Gebru Tareke, may others who believe in federalism, say the problem is “EPRDF did not translate or implement the federal system in practice”. This is very true. However, this amounts to stating a very obvious point, a tautology – like saying the sun rises in the East. Of course, that is part of the problem, but it begs another question, whose answer come much closer to a more fruitful like of argument. Here is the question: why EPRDF could not implement genuine federalism, or the very federalism it introduced through a new constitution? The most honest and straightforward answer is this: EPRDF means essentially TPLF. Genuine federalism means genuine democracy. In a genuine federal Ethiopia, it is not in the best interest of TPLF to let democracy flourish in Ethiopia, simply because it will loose its dominance. There is no place and time in human history where a group like TPLF would leave power out if its free will, giving up all the benefits that goes with it. The second layer of this question is this: Why did TPLF introduce federalism if it is not willing to implement it? The answer is simple – just to confuse, cheat, and buy time. From day one, TPLFites knew that they were not in this to implement genuine federalism. They thought they could cobble a fake federalism through which they would rule for extended period of time.
Derg’s Proclamation of rural land had brought land under public ownership and urban land under government ownership. . Weyane have brought all land under government ownership. Government has become landlord and poor farmers have become tenants of the government.
There is a common mistake in providing an sensible and satisfactory analysis of weaknesses during the EPRDF government. Prof. Gebru Tareke, may others who believe in federalism, say the problem is “EPRDF did not translate or implement the federal system in practice”. This is very true. However, this amounts to stating a very obvious point, a tautology – like saying the sun rises in the East. Of course, that is part of the problem, but it begs another question, whose answer come much closer to a more fruitful like of argument. Here is the question: why EPRDF could not implement genuine federalism, or the very federalism it introduced through a new constitution? The most honest and straightforward answer is this: EPRDF means essentially TPLF. Genuine federalism means genuine democracy. In a genuine federal Ethiopia, it is not in the best interest of TPLF to let democracy flourish in Ethiopia, simply because it will loose its dominance. There is no place and time in human history where a group like TPLF would leave power out if its free will, giving up all the benefits that goes with it. The second layer of this question is this: Why did TPLF introduce federalism if it is not willing to implement it? The answer is simple – just to confuse, cheat, and buy time. From day one, TPLFites knew that they were not in this to implement genuine federalism. They thought they could cobble a fake federalism through which they would rule for extended period of time.