Eritrean President’s ‘Interference’ in Ethiopian Politics Draws Anger

[Deeq A.]

Addis Ababa (PP News Desk) — The Eritrean Embassy in Addis Ababa had issued a political statement viewed by many as a veiled threat to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. As if that was not enough, the Eritrean Foreign Ministry website published an “editorial” accusing TPLF of opposing the economic integration in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopian activists criticise President Isaias Afwerki for taking sides in the Ethiopian political struggles.    

Some analysts argue that Ethiopia might relapse into 1980s-style civil war. “My advice is for Ethiopia to choose losing decades of economic development and stability or embrace national dialogue” said Mahboub Maalim, the Former executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, in an interview with The East African.

Political longevity: President Afwerki has outlived Haile Selassie, Mengistu and Meles regimes, and likes to take an uncalculated political risk. The statement from the Eritrean Embassy in Addis Ababa

According to Salah Gadi Johar, the editor of  Awate, a news website, reckless policies of President Isaias Afwerke are based on four pillars of which ‘Against all odds’ is one of them. “ Nobody ever dared to tell Isaias it was wrong to start a war … against Ethiopia, to get involved in Somalia, to taunt the US and get Eritrea sanctioned. Wait for the ‘against all odds’ victory and make it sweetest by increasing the odds” writes Johar. 

Tigray region rejected the appointment of an army sector commander by the Ethiopian Government. The most heavily mechanised division of the Ethiopian Army is based in Tigray, a region that shares a border with Eritrea. There is a growing fear that the Ethiopian Army can split into rival groups loyal to different nationalities. “Strong and disciplined, the army remains the only solid pillar supporting the security of the country. It might crack, if it were to become involved in massive operations that were publicly perceived as attacks on specific communities or popular movement…” wrote Professor Mehari Taddele Maru in 2019.

“Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is allowing a foreign country to meddle in the Ethiopian politics. His policies can lead to proxy wars in Ethiopia. Kenya and Sudan are watching the situation carefully” says a security expert in Addis Ababa. The Ethiopian Government has not commented on what many Ethiopians view as blatant violation of diplomatic protocol by the Eritrean Embassy in Addis Ababa.

Awol Allo: “The idea that Abiy can impose his will on Tigray through war in 2020 is mind-numbing,”

“A war with Tigray will not solve the central ideological and political problem between TPLF and  Abiy’s government. It will be endless and calamitous, with massive consequences for the rest of Ethiopia. The idea that Abiy can impose his will on Tigray through war in 2020 is mind-numbing” tweeted Dr Awol Allo, Senior Lecturer in Law at Keele University in the United Kingdom.

 © Puntland Post, 2020

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