EPRDF’s model of governing through complete control could soon reach its breaking point, watchdog warns

Photo: Gadaa.com

ESAT News (July 23, 2016)

A US based watchdog organization warned that TPLF’s model of ruling through complete control in all aspects of peoples’ lives will soon reach its breaking point.

“Protests in Oromia and growing ethnic tensions in the Amhara and South regions are viewed as indications that EPRDF’s model of governing through complete control over all levels of political and economic life could soon reach its breaking point,” Freedom House, an independent watchdog organization said on Friday.

“The government’s intolerance of alternative political views is pushing the country’s diverse ethnic and political communities to take to the streets to air their grievances,” the report released on Friday by the watchdog said.

“Ethiopia’s perceived stability and its much-touted role in the global fight against terrorism in the Horn of Africa are at stake if EPRDF continues to ignore the dangers of suppressing citizens’ legitimate demands for inclusive and accountable governance,” the report further said.

Freedom House said the tools of repression by the regime have tightened as the anti-terrorism law, the charities and societies proclamation, the cybercrime law as well as the recent shutdown of social media all used by the regime to curtail freedom of expression.