Centralization could cause disintegration

Abdullahi Boru Halakhe

(Qatar)

Should you be allowed to keep a Nobel Peace Prize if you then start a civil war? asked Abdullahi Boru Halakhe. Ethiopian President Abiy Ahmed, who took office in 2018, received the award last year after he ended the two-decade war with neighboring Eritrea and released thousands of political prisoners. But last month, he dispatched federal troops to attack the rebellious Tigray region, sending thousands of civilians fleeing. Some refugees tell of massacres by government soldiers. The backstory is that Ethiopia has long been a federation of various ethnic and cultural identities, but one party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, dominated the country for much of the past three decades,

suppressing dissent and engaging in corruption. Abiy was elected on a pledge to halt that abuse and “transform Ethiopia into a centralized, unitary state.” But some, including the Tigrayans, see him as waging “a war against diversity, democracy, and freedom under the name of national unity.” While ethnic Amharas support Abiy’s vision, Tigrayans and Oromos do not, and “they are resisting Abiy’s centralization efforts.” This conflict is the result of their wish to retain a federalized system. If Abiy continues to insist on central rule, Tigray might secede. That could “trigger yet another protracted conflict in the region, causing misery for millions of people in Ethiopia and beyond.”