Rights defender calls for the formation of a caretaker gov’t in Ethiopia

ESAT News (September 26, 2016)

Prominent public intellectual and rights activist, Prof. Mesfin Wodemariam, called for the formation of a caretaker government in Ethiopia to come out of the political quagmire and pave the way for a peaceful transition in Ethiopia.

In an article released on Monday, Prof. Mesfin, 86, recommended that the TPLF should transfer power to a newly formed council of representatives, which in turn establishes a caretaker government, which will have a two year term in office.

The council of representatives will formulate rules and laws as regards the operations of the caretaker government, he recommended.

Accountants and lawyers with the help of experts form the World Bank, USA, UK, Germany, Japan and India should conduct an inventory into the wealth stolen by officials of the TPLF. He proposed that the wealth should then be used for the rehabilitation and development of the country and the people.

Prof. Mesfin, who noted that the fate of Tigray and Ethiopia is strongly intertwined, stressed that the people of Tigray should be part of the efforts to form a better Ethiopia. He emphasized that the people and the region of Tigray should be part of the solution in any future endeavor of building a better Ethiopia.

Prof. Mesfin has been an active critic of successive Ethiopian regimes beginning in his student days during Emperor Hailesselsie reign. He formed and actively participated in an opposition political party called the Coalition for Unity and Democracy, which took part in the 2005 elections. That election was rigged by the incumbent TPLF. He and his colleagues as well as hundreds of political activists and journalists were imprisoned on trumped up charges and were released after two years following international uproar against the TPLF regime.