SURGIMIENTO DE LA CONCIENCIA DE CLASE

One of the the first interviews I conducted at the start of my field work was with an indi- vidual who has served the TPLF-EPRDF government since 1991 holding various cabinet positions. The interview entirely focused on learning his assessment of how the ethnic federal arrangement unraveled in the country since it became official in 1995. Interviewee number two, however, ar- gued that the federal constitution in Ethiopia, “should not be characterized as an ethnic federal model.”60 According to him, the constitution was designed to address both the issues of individual rights and group rights without discriminating one over the other. Moreover, he stated that alt- hough the constitution bestowed various groups in the country with the ability to administer them- selves, its ultimate goal was also to safeguard the national unity of the state. However, many who study the country’s federal state disagree by explaining that from the nature of formation of the regional states to the electoral politics within those newly formed states, the federal constitution in Ethiopia promoted ethnic rights and the country’s politics become ethnic centered. Jon Abbink (1997), another scholar who closely followed the coming into existence and implementation of the federal arrangement, states that, “According to the policy of the EPRDF-led government (in power since 1991 and confirmed in a general election of sorts in May 1995) ethnic identity has been

59 _{It is important to note that the federal setting was in place since 1991, it is just that it became formalized}

in 1995 once the constitution was officially approved.

declared the ideological basis of political organization and administration, and has also been en- shrined in the Federal Constitution of December 1994 defining the outlines of the new Ethiopia.”61 Obviously, one very significant development in the Ethiopian constitution, as I stated ear- lier, was that of the political elite’s intention of putting the group rights agenda that was engrained in their political platforms starting from the armed struggle. The constitution of course mentions ‘full respect of individual freedoms’62 _{as the most important part of the constitutional making.} However, it is also critical to note that most of the content of the constitution focuses on the group rights agenda dominating that of the individual. Interviewee number twenty-one, who had actively participated in the writing of the transitional charter and who later closely followed the processes of the drafting of the 1995 constitution also argues that in times of any conflicts arising between the individual’s rights and that of the regional state that administrates ethnically classified region or local government and thus protecting the group rights with in the defined territory, the later would always have an upper hand in any bureaucratic decision making processes or court proceed- ings and debates.

The Federal Constitution’s preamble that starts with: “We, the Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples of Ethiopia: Strongly committed, in full and free exercise of our right to self-determina- tion, to building a political community founded on the rule of law and capable of ensuring a lasting

61 _{The characterization of Ethiopia’s federal setting as ethnic federalism and the politics as ethnic centered}

is now the norm in Ethiopian government studies. For more: Look at Abbink’s work on: Abbink, Jon. "Ethnicity and constitutionalism in contemporary Ethiopia." Journal of African Law 41, no. 2 (1997): 159- 174, and the quote is taken from page 159.

62 _{The preamble of the constitution, for instance makes a mention of the individual rights as, “firmly con-}

vinced that the fulfillment of this objective requires full respect of individual and people’s fundamental freedoms and rights, to live together on the basis of equality and without any sexual, religious or cultural discrimination….” Federal Negarit Gazeta-No. 1, 21st _{August 1995-page 2.}

peace, guaranteeing a democratic order and advancing our economic and social develop- ment….”63, indeed puts greater emphasis on the promotion of groups rights agenda, that needs to be also seen from the perspective of how such an agenda effectively empowered the four members of the the EPRDF coalition (TPLF, ANDM, OPDO and SEPDM) that are in charge of the admin- istration of the four largest regional states in addition to most of the federal government’s powers in Addis Ababa and the so called EPRDF affiliate political parties in the states that the government refers as ‘developing’ regional states, which the chapter discusses more broadly further down.64

This chapter sporadically discusses the application of the constitution through out and how the debates I mentioned above play out in the federal setting will be further assessed. However, it is also important to see that all of the regional states in the country have also ratified their regional state constitutions and assessing such constitutions’ presentation of the foundations for the peo- ples’ rights within their respective regions is important. As the individual who has served the post 1991 Ethiopian state in different capacities (interview number-two) in his part stated that, ‘it’s known that the political elite in charge of the state actually believe that the federal constitution and all other rule books of the state are designed in a way that would not put the national unity and the people to people relationship in jeopardy’.

63 _{See: Federal Negarit Gazeta-No. 1, 21}st _{August 1995-page 2.}

64 _{What the government refers as developing regional states are states such as Afar Regional State, Ethio-}

pian-Somali Regional State, Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State, Gambella Regional State and Harari Re- gional State. Such regional states are administered by ethnic political parties that are considered ‘EPRDF Affiliate parties’ and as we see deep in this chapter, the elites on top of such ethnically organized political parties are highly coopted by the EPRDF political elites, which effectively undermines the constitutional rights for self-administration.

According to interviewee number-four, who worked as a federal prosecutor in Amhara regional state in the nineties, however, although the federal constitution is not written in a way that translates as anti-national unity in any way, (which many critics say when referring to the consti- tution), the regional states’ constitutions when carefully studied focus on the rights of ethnic groups in their respective regions and make mentions of historical rights that gave birth to the rights they enjoy today.65 However, such historical accounts were explained in terms of purposefully remind- ing the citizenry within regional states of what the political elites consider an awful past in ethnic relations in the country.