This ‘reawakening’ has been articulated through a form of identity politics called Oromumma, which ushered in the influential youth-led Oromo nationalist political movement known as the Qeerroo. In recent years, Oromo youth have grown increasingly engaged with the Oromo language and culture. Oromo identity and political expression have grown stronger since the formation of Ethiopia’s current system of ethnic federalism. In response, the EPRDF tampered with votes in rural communities, which they claimed was the deciding factor that secured their victory.īoth parties failed to seize opportunities created by the 2005 election: the EPRDF could not present a strong vision for Ethiopia’s democratic transition, while the CUD failed to become powerful enough to invigorate the transition on its own terms.ĭespite many other opposition groups and members of the international community describing the 2021 elections as a coronation for the incumbent regime, many former CUD members who now represent various Amhara and urban elites portray the election as largely “free and fair.”Īs Ethiopia is going through another election marred with claims of illegitimacy, have we learned from past mistakes? Oromo reawakening The opposition party ‘Coalition for Unity and Democracy’ (CUD) successfully capitalized the support it had among Amharas and urban elites and won many major towns in Oromia, Amhara, SNNPR, and the capital Addis Ababa. Despite massive voter turnout, polling results were sobering for the incumbents. In 2005, the EPRDF was determined to win federal elections in a fair manner. Turning a blind eye will lead to further chaos with the potential to spread beyond Ethiopia’s borders to the rest of the Horn of Africa-a nightmare scenario to be avoided at all costs. The country must collectively abandon the use of force as a means of settling political disputes and commit to inclusive and constructive dialogues to address competing visions for the country. Pro-European integration policy-makers should therefore try to regain control over the political process, for in-stance via a more courageous use of ‘differentiated integration’.Ethiopia’s political landscape is defined by extreme diversity, and that has led to a political culture with many contrasting viewpoints.ĭisagreements abound on important symbolic issues, including the country’s flag, its shared heroes, and whether Ethiopians are ‘one people’ or collections of many different ‘peoples.’ Disagreements over identity in Ethiopia have often led to conflict and even outright war. > Disintegration entails high political risks and poses a threat to the overall process of European integration, as it contains many unknown and potentially uncontrollable dynamics. Brexit, however, can be regarded as the clearest sign of European disintegration. Whilst disintegration ultimately hardly unfolded during the Eurozone crisis, the Schengen crisis displayed considerable disintegrative features. > Among the most obvious manifestations of disintegration were several crisis-affected policy fields. However, a standard definition, let alone a theory, of ‘disintegration’ is still lacking. > In the past few years, and particularly in the context of a number of crises shaking the foundations of the European Union, the number of academic publications and political debates on European ‘disintegration’ has grown considerably. Schramm, Lucas (2019) European disintegration: a new feature of EU politics.
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