The recent political situation in Ethiopia and rapprochement with Eritrea

Abstract

The aim of this article is designed to provide an overview of the historical and contemporary relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea as well as to examine the recent geopolitical situation and the perception of local people in Ethiopia. This paper is mainly based on secondary data analysis of the available secondary information and news reports, online articles, academic literature, interviews and discussions. The war between Ethiopia and Eritrea brought political, economic and social security threats to the Horn of Africa. Although the economy in Ethiopia is at the developing stage, recent protests have shaken the country to its core. Since 2015, anti-government protests have been triggered over freedom of the press, land rights, underrepresented seats in the coalition parties, and horizontal inequality in economic, political and social affairs among ethnic groups across the country. In this study, it is established that the unrestrained political circumstance of the current regime has created dissension and violence among the public, and thus led to escalating political, economic and security crises in the country. If this issue is not rectified quickly, the peace in the country may be jeopardised. Another issue is that although Ethiopia-Eritrea rapprochement is appreciated, the agreement between the two leaders and their foreign policy orientation is still unclear.

Securitization of Politics in Ethiopia: Scrutinizing Crisis in Western Oromia in Post-2018

“…In short, newly appointed Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has attempted to bring positive changes, although the situation has quickly reversed. For example, thousands of political prisoners were released, the torture center (known as Makelawi) was closed, all political parties were brought out of exile, the classification of some political parties as terrorist organizations were lifted, and several legal and institutional reforms were initiated, raising hopes for democratic change in Ethiopia and keeping all eyes on Ethiopia [36]. However, this highly anticipated political reform was immediately reversed in 2019 when the government deployed security forces to the western part of Oromia to disarm the Oromo Liberation Army, which was closely linked to the crisis in the western and southern parts of Oromia region, by uniting their respective ethnic groups EPRDF) into a single national party Prosperity Party (P.P.)…”