The following is a translation of a statement released on May 2, 2023 by the National Movement of Amhara (NAMA), an opposition group in Ethiopia’s parliament. The statement addresses the ongoing grievances of people in the Amhara region as it relates to the federal government’s implementation of new armed forces policy. You can see the Amharic version of NAMA’s statement on the group’s facebook page: https://bit.ly/3oWPuPf
It has been only a few months since the Amhara people came out of the war of invasion and gained relative stability. It is known that the repeated raids caused great human and material destruction. The Amhara people have seen conflict and war in practice, but it is not something they know from afar.
The basic questions raised by the Amhara people are related to justice and equality, so all other parties, especially patriotic Ethiopians, listen to and support them, except for hateful and extremist forces.
It is necessary to believe that the humanitarian aid and rehabilitation work, which was conducted at a level and inappropriately, especially the price paid during the war, as well as the lack of transparency of the government’s post-war political activities, have caused great dissatisfaction and concern among the Amhara people.
In this regard, the Amhara people’s zeal for their country and the price they paid to save their country have been normalized in the public square.
In addition to this, we understand that during the post-war period, problems have arisen due to the lack of continuous and open discussion with the public and stakeholders on basic and current issues.
Therefore, the reasons for the current security crisis are the long-standing political crisis and the current government’s lack of will and capacity.
On the one hand, the Amhara people have been repeatedly accepting the calls made by the government and making sacrifices to protect the country and the central system from danger. However, we believe that the government’s failure to pay enough attention to the fair demands, needs and concerns of the Amhara people has exacerbated the problem.
It has long been implied that the government does not want to discuss and listen to the Amhara people. Since the general politics lacks transparency and does not show the way of governing the society, it has always opened the door for suspicion and conspiracy analysis to prevail. This has gradually developed and has contributed to the current security problem.
Therefore, we urge the government to take the lead in solving the problems by discussing directly with the stakeholders. Especially the members of the Amhara Special Forces, Fano and Defense Forces, who have sacrificed together for the sovereignty and unity of their country, need to act with great attention and caution so that they do not get into conflict.
The government should not enter into an unwarranted quarrel with the Amhara farmers, youths and fans who have been their partners in the worst of times and who really have no experience, inclination or history of standing against the needs and interests of the people and the country. We would like to emphasize that this issue can be resolved through discussion and consultation.
On the other hand, it should be noted that those who are working to carry out their various political agendas covertly pretend to care about the Amhara people. We urge those who were standing on the edge of the Amhara people’s war of invasion yesterday and who were fighting with the enemy to immediately stop their activities to instigate conflict by acting as accidental friends and agents of the Amhara people.
We would like to remind the Amhara people that they should never listen to the alarming calls of destruction made by these bodies.
We especially call on Amhara youths, Fanos and members of the special forces to do your part to ensure that the peace and security of our people is not disturbed, economic activities are not disrupted, development works are not disrupted, and most importantly, no physical or life harm is caused to our people. We would like to call on the National Defense Force to show the same diligence to bring about peace and stability without being pushed by temporary feelings.
In recent times, we ask our people and friends of our people to give positive help so that they don’t fall victim to the activities that push the Amhara people to forget the basic questions and instead focus only on issues that are loaded with emotion and sensibility.
Our people should properly weigh the left and the right and disapprove of the powers that trade in its name.
Father, we believe that the whole struggle of our people should be one that promotes peace and stability at every level, stops war and bloodshed, and opens the phase of dialogue and consultation. The forces that claim to fight for the Amhara people must give priority to the peace and stability of the people and devise a way to strengthen the friendship of our people with other brotherly peoples. At the same time, we would like to strongly inform you that defaming and violating the identity of other brother peoples is not the desire of the Amhara people and has never been, and will not be in the future. We would like to point out that this is a futile effort to indirectly prove the lies spread by the enemies of the Amhara people.
The blasphemy of extremist forces against the Amhara people and the attacks they carry out against other parties in the name of the Amhara people will only create additional and overlapping problems for the Amhara people or for Ethiopia. The fundamental questions of the Amhara people are well-known and well-known questions of justice, equality and democracy, and they can be achieved in the course of time, through peaceful means, through dialogue and civilized negotiations, and with the support and cooperation of all our Ethiopian brothers and sisters.
On the other hand, we call on those who are far away from the horizon of suffering and misery of our people and who are unknown within the government structures and various political formations, who are always fighting against the Amhara people, and who want to turn the Amhara region into a war zone, to immediately desist from their actions.
We urge the forces that want to take the Amhara fans out of line and bring them into conflict, who played an important role in the survival campaign, and abuse our people with uncalculated politics, to immediately refrain from their actions.
Therefore:
1. Stakeholder discussion, namely the state and federal government, leaders of rival parties, intellectuals,
Famous and influential individuals, country elders, and a group consisting of university councils should identify pressing agendas in selected cities and hold discussions with our people, clear up the confusion and create a common understanding.
2. It is a memory of yesterday that both our country and the Amhara people were highly praised for their heroic role in resisting the invasion. In this way, the Amhara people’s history of standing by the country’s side when the country is in trouble has passed as a proven fact. Therefore, we do not believe that it is necessary to fight with this party’s power.
3. To all our armed brothers, including Fano, the determination you have shown in the process of resisting the invasion of our people has been recorded as an example of heroism in history. We believe that your contribution will be rewarded and recognized when the Amhara people enter into complete peace. However, we strongly understand that yesterday you stayed in the same fort, drank in the same coda, broke the same plate, and buried in the same pit, and you should never get into a conflict with the Defense Forces and the Federal Security Forces. Therefore, we call upon your representatives to start a dialogue with the leaders of the security agencies by reducing the current consultation.
4. We firmly believe that the way we have gone through war has taught the federal government, including the government of the Amhara region, that no lasting political gains can be made without inviting more national misery from conflict. Therefore, we strongly urge the government to understand that there is no benefit from conflict and to take advantage of the opportunity to resolve the conflict that is emerging in a peaceful framework. Therefore, we ask the government to understand all the plans that could be bloody and open the door for peace and dialogue and implement them immediately.
In a related manner, we urge the government’s security forces to ensure that innocent people are not attacked and arrested unjustly, and that those arrested unjustly be released immediately.
Finally, we are asking for your regular cooperation so that the plan can be implemented as soon as possible.
Amhara National Movement (ABN or [NAMA])
April 24/2015 (May 2, 2023)
Addis Ababa, Showa, Ethiopia
