Ethiopia Prepares for a Negotiated Settlement
On Sunday, a two-day long pan-Ethiopian meeting concluded in Addis Ababa. The preparatory meeting elected a committee that will draw plans for a wider nationwide consultation and negotiations conference in which the constitution and the federal status of Ethiopia will be discussed.
Regional notables, academicians and politicians attended the meeting.
The attendants overwhelmingly agreed that the current political, economic, and social problems cannot be solved militarily. However, the Ethiopian government has adopted this view as an alternative solution after it failed to bring about a military solution to the several years long crisis. Our source said, “the military steps taken thus far proved to be riskier for the wellbeing of Ethiopia and failed to achieve a solution.”
Insiders also stated that Isaias Afwerki, an ally of the Ethiopian government and the Amhara regional government, is opposed to the negotiated settlement, and that “has distanced Abiy and Isaias.”
Though the number of checkpoints on the highways have decreased, and ethnic based arrests has slowed down drastically around major cities, an air of insecurity engulfs the targeted groups of whom thousands were arrested.
The arbitrary stereotypical arrests created a lucrative blackmailing racket among security forces who threaten many people of arrest and internment is they don’t pay bribes.
In recent weeks, Eritreans have become victims of the wide scale arrests that previously targeted Ethnic Tigrayans only.
In Eritrea, recently the government is not allowing Eritreans to board planes flying to Sudan or Ethiopia unless they have an entry visa from the embassy of the concerned country.
Meanwhile, sources from the Middle East informed Gedab News that the Eritrean embassy personnel are securing entry visas for Eritreans wishing to travel to Turkey. The going price for a Turkish visa is selling at $2000 a piece.
However, though there are several suspicions and theories, the final beneficiary of the visa transaction is not confirmed.
In another news, the African Union (AU) will celebrate its 20th anniversary and hold its next summit meeting in February 2022 in Addis Ababa. The AU also said, it “could consider moving the event to a location other than Addis Ababa for safety, but a virtual summit is the likely alternative.”.
The AU also expressed concern that the Ethiopian crisis has not shown signs of abating and the “mediation efforts by former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo have been unsuccessful.”
The AU statement added, “The political situation in Ethiopia…, and the continued threat of COVID-19” will be the major issues of discussion. As of October 2021, about 7% of Africans had been vaccinated.
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