A Joint Statement by Community Organizations of Ethiopian Origin in Diaspora Regarding the Debate on Ethiopian Federalism

Author : Harari Diasporas

Year : 2010

First and foremost we would like to express our appreciation and support for the process of social, economic and democratic developments which are being undertaken in Ethiopia. Henceforth, we honour and acknowledge the commitment of the Ethiopian government for its continuous effort to facilitate and consolidate the processes and advance peace, stability and security in Ethiopia regardless of internal and external obstacles aimed to discredit and paralyse the progress.
The objective of this joint statement is to highlight our concern to the Ethiopian people and the Ethiopian government some of the provocative comments and statements made on the debate of “Ethiopian Federalism” on Ethiopian national TV on March 3rd 2010. On the debate, we noted that a number of representatives from opposition parties indicated that the promotion of “Federalism in Ethiopia” is inherently wrong and dysfunctional highlighting the existence of the “Harari National State” as one of the anomalies of the Federalism in Ethiopian and the Ethiopian Constitution. This joint statement provides a brief response to the restatements made on the debate and provides some of the evidences that the Harari National State is indeed a model demonstrating functional Federalism in Ethiopia and Ethiopian Constitution; and a symbol of peace, tolerance and prosperity in Ethiopia.

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