A consortium of Political Parties’ Joint Council, Destiny Ethiopia, and Yehasab Ma’ed (Plate of ideas) in concert with the Ministry of Peace plans a national dialogue initiative dubbed Multi-stakeholder Initiative for National Dialogue (MIND- Ethiopia).
The Initiative that was made public at a press conference at the Marriot Addis Hotel on October 8, 2020 came on the heels of a heightened political landscape in the country where the government is being criticized both by international and local groups for jailing politicians and intervening in the internal affairs of opposition political parties.
On the other hand, the political tension between the federal and Tigray regional government following the postponement of the general election originally due in late August has reached its highest point where the newly formed Tigray regional government denies legitimacy to the federal government while the federal government severed its ties with and cut subsidies to Tigray’s newly instituted government.
MIND-Ethiopia, which recognized the contribution of past dispersed efforts to conduct a national dialogue in demonstrating the possibility of narrowing down the polarized politics in the country through roundtable discussions, it also pointed out that there are limitations to these efforts like too narrow agenda, deficits in inclusivity, lack of coordination and participants fatigue because of calls from different bodies regarding the same issue.
“By understanding that the country immediately requires a concerted effort for a coordinated and inclusive national dialogue,” MIND-Ethiopia reasons, entities that were exerting efforts independently have come to do the same in a coordinated manner and a memorandum of understanding has been signed with the Ministry of Peace to help in this process.
In a tactical plan preparation process that the participating organizations went through, various issues were discussed various issues and prepared and signed on a code of conduct to go further than just planning what to do.
The objectives of the national consensus process will be bringing various contentious issues to the table and discuss them one by one to create a common understanding step by step, reads the press release by MIND-Ethiopia. To do this, the Initiative will gather all inclusive and wide agendas from scholars as well as various members of the society. It will also be a continuous process which includes experience sharing from other countries and implement the same by matching it with indigenous knowledge, it was disclosed.
