Sixteen national and regional opposition political parties working in the country have announced that they have formed an alliance to address the recent political unrest in the country and called on the government to open the political space and discuss with all concerned bodies regarding the fate of the nation.
The parties’ alliance was launched on Thursday at a press conference held for both local and international journalists. The new alliance is dubbed “Alliance for National Consensus and Unity” or “Alliance” in short.
The political parties decided to form “Alliance” following their assessment of the current unrest in the country and the need to contribute their share to address the problems unraveling in the country. Furthermore, they also called for national reconciliation among the various forces, which have wronged each other in the past.
According to the statement issued by “Alliance”, the ruling party has failed to build a political system, which focused on addressing the root cause of the economic, political and social crises in the country. Apart from that, all political parties in the country including the ruling party have failed to create a national consensus and remains antagonists to one another, which in turn affected the political system of the country.
The parties, in their statement, also severely criticized the government for not complying with the constitution, which it help ratify. “All principles enshrined in the constitution that granted both democratic and human rights are not being practiced on the ground; and that they are far from benefiting the public at large,” the statement read.
The parties also revealed that, if the current demand of the public is not properly handled and addressed both by the government and opposition political parties, things could get out of control and the country might face devastation far greater to imagine.
In this regard, the parties demanded that the government should cooperate in conducting a national reconciliation in Ethiopia that will entertain all the political, economic and social queries of the public.
The parties also demand that the government without any precondition should create a platform for national reconciliation that will bring together opposition political parties, the ruling party, elders, democratic and human rights institutions, scholars and ethnic and spiritual leaders in the country.
Political prisoners should also be released without any precondition and be part of the national reconciliation process, the parties demanded.
The parties also invited the representatives of different governments, prominent international organizations, and the diplomatic community to be observers in the national reconciliation process.
