January 15, 2014
The former Minister of Communications and now the advisor of Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn, Bereket Simon, said at a recent meeting and evaluation with ministers and top leadership of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) “as theories used to lead the people could rust unless updated, it has become necessary to replace Revolutionary Democracy with Developmental Democracy”. EPRDF’s is better described through the latter, he said.
He said before we replaced Revolutionary Democracy with Developmental Democracy, the Front has been divided into three groups. Bereket said one group of the leadership had argued that our problem was internal and that we need to first check that while the other group held that our problem was Shabia/Eritrea and that we need to fight them first but the third position which said that after fighting Shabia/Eritrea, we should then look at our internal problems had becoming the winning idea.
Bereket said the main force of riot during the 2005 post election violence had been the youth and unless job opportunities are created for the youth, they can rebel against the regime and the country. It is to be recalled that the government had been accusing oppositions for instigating the post election violence of 2005.
EPRDF wants to establish a government that is independent of investors or the private sector as “it is the farmer and the poor urbanite that brings us to power” Bereket added. He said the government is not administered by the finance of the private sector and if it wanted money, it could get it from them in the name of taxation. This government has its own sources of income for the sake of its own survival such as Airlines, Banks and Electric Corporation, he added.
A senior member of the Front said that attendants were surprised at Bereket’s statements which remarked that the EPRDF can win the upcoming election without the support of investors and saying that the government has sufficient finance. He said Bereket’s statements tell that the EPRDF will take money from the government to conduct the election.
Unless the government has its own sources of income, it will be like Western African countries such as Coted D’ivore’s government which gets its payments from the French embassy in the Country. He said the case is similar in Kenya.
EPRDF obtained over 100 million birr from private investors during the 2010 election.
Due to the light train, road construction and digging and lack of transport, it has become so unpleasant to live in Addis Abeba but most residents accept it as ‘development’.
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