Chancellor Merkel says Ethiopian regime should allow protests

ESAT News (October 11, 2016)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) gestures next to Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn (R) during a news conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, October 11, 2016. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that she told Ethiopian prime minister that protests should be allowed and that any police response should be proportionate.

Opposition groups should be included in the political process, she noted.

“I made the case that you should have open talks with people who have problems,” Merkel was quoted as saying.

“In a democracy there are always needs to be an opposition that has a voice – in the best case in parliament,” Merkel added at the news conference.

In another show of discontent on the part of the Chancellor, a diplomat told the Reuters that the regime had proposed that Merkel address parliament, but she refused because it lacked any opposition members.

The diplomat, who asked not to be named, said the message being sent was that there was “no business as usual.”

The visit by the Chancellor came on the hills of deadly violence as Ethiopian security forces killed over a thousand protesters over the past few months.

Meanwhile, United States expressed concern on Tuesday about the state of emergency declared by the TPLF regime. State Department spokesman John Kirby said measures that restore order but deprive people of rights like freedom of speech and assembly were a “self-defeating tactic that exacerbates [the crisis] rather than addresses the grievances.”

Kirby said the U.S. administration encouraged the Ethiopian government to take action on land rights, electoral reform and other issues raised by the protesters.

“We’re obviously very concerned. We encourage the government to act decisively on those proposals,” Kirby cautioned.