By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
January16, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) – An Ethiopian opposition
group on Saturday cast doubts on whether the government would be committed to
permanently abandon a plan to integrate the capital, Addis Ababa, with the
surrounding Oromia region.
Governor
of Ethiopia’s Gambella region pictured with the Ethiopian Prime Minister,
Hailemariam Desalegn during a visit to the region (FILE photo)
In a statement issued Friday on the state-owned EBC,
the Ethiopian government announced that it had abandoned the controversial
“Addis Ababa Integrated Development Master Plan”
The government’s move to drop the expansion plan came after
the Oromo Peoples’ Democratic Organization (OPDO) party which is the regional
ally of the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) on
Wednesday decided to withdraw its support to the expansion plan.
OPDO announced that the plan which was proposed by the
federal government had been “scrapped” after discussions with local Oromo
residents.
In the statement, the government said it had “huge respect”
for the Oromo people and respects their rights to oppose the master plan.
The government underscored that no expansion plans will be
implemented without the knowledge or contest of the Oromo people and said the
unrest was caused due simple misunderstanding created by a “lack of
transparency”.
Despite the decision, which is being welcomed by Oromo
residents, Oromo’s largest opposition group, Oromo Peoples Congress party (OPC)
however doubts the government would stick to its promise to cancel the plan
permanently.
OPC Chairman, Professor Merrara Gudina says the decision
passed following OPDO emergency meeting doesn’t yet guarantee a permanent halt
of the expansion plan.
Gudina says the decision could only be a temporary one
citing to a previous trend.
“A year and half ago, the government similarly announced
halting the master plan but didn’t keep its promise instead renewed its
intention to push forward with the plan” he told Sudan Tribune.
The opposition official demanded the decision to halt the
plan is incorporated into proclamation so that the federal government won’t
reverse it in future.
Other Oromo Opposition activists say the government’s
decision is only meant to calm down the unrest and there by to prevent the
crises from spreading to other parts of the country.
Gudina who also was a former Member of Parliament accused
the government of detaining leadership of the opposition party.
He said deputy chairman of OPC as well as observers and
candidates of the opposition party who took part in Ethiopia’s May, 2014
election are arrested.
Merara called on the international community to put pressure
on the Ethiopian government to permanently withdraw the expansion plan and to
further free the hundreds of members and supporters of the group who he alleged
remain in custody.
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW) at least 140 ethnic
Oromo protesters are killed and many more wounded by the Ethiopian security
forces during two months long anti-government demonstrations that had been
taking place across Ethiopia’s Oromia region protesting against the
controversial “Addis Ababa Integrated Development Master Plan” aimed to expand
the capital, Addis Ababa, to parts of Oromia region.
Meanwhile an Ethiopian dissident group in exile calls for
regime change describing the current Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, led
government in Addis Ababa as “undemocratic” and “oppressive”.
The newly formed opposition group known as the People’s
Alliance for Freedom and Democracy (PAFD) urged all liberation fronts and
opposition parties to unite in ending the current regime and create a new
system which it said would respect the rights of all peoples in Ethiopia.
The group condemned the killing of protesters by security
forces in Oromia region.
“We call all nations and peoples in Ethiopia to rise up and
support this illegal displacement of Oromo people from their ancestral lands as
is happening in all other parts” it said in a statement.
It called on the international community to denounce the
Addis Ababa expansion plan which Oromo nationals say would eventually lead to
land grabbing and large scale evictions to tens of thousands of people from
their ancestral lands.
The group said the government must abide with international
laws in respecting citizens’ rights, dignity and safety.
PAFD is an opposition alliance formed by the Benishangul
People’s Liberation Movement, the Gambella People’s Liberation Movement, the
Ogaden National Liberation Front, the Oromo Liberation Front and the Sidama
National Liberation Front.
The group says it is united to bring a change of government.
(ST).
Source: Sudan Tribune
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