Ethiopia: Conference recommends formation of transitional council

ESAT News (October 24, 2016)

A conference that deliberated on “roadmap for transition and constitution making in post-conflict Ethiopia” recommended the formation of transitional council “with tasks of peacemaking and peacebuilding” in Ethiopia.

The conference, organized by Vision Ethiopia in collaboration with ESAT that was held from October 22 and 23, 2016 in Washington, DC, brought together political scientists, representatives of political organization, activists and members of Ethiopian community from all across the globe.

The transitional council, according to a communique issued by the organizers, would, among others, “conduct a fair, free, credible election and transfer political power to the newly elected party or coalition of parties.”

Conference participants also called on the Ethiopian regime to immediately lift the state of emergency declared early this month.

The conference, which discussed the atrocities being committed by the ruling party in Ethiopia, also called on the regime to stop the killings perpetrated against innocent citizens and immediately “release all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, including those in secret concentration camps without any precondition.”

The conference also called on opposition political parties to “immediately convene a national conference to establish a new political order in Ethiopia and negotiate and agree, in good faith, to establish a transitional/interim council/government.”

The conference also called upon the international and donor community to  “facilitate the effort of the Ethiopian people towards establishing a post-conflict political order,” and to “put pressure and encourage the ruling party to seriously consider convening an inclusive conference for a national charter.”

It is the third such conference for Vision Ethiopia, an independent team of Ethiopian scholars, that have been focusing on creating forums to discuss issues of political significance to Ethiopia.