Berhanu Nega remarks on the controversy over the mayor of Addis Ababa

borkena
July 22,2018

While controversy rages among the Ethiopian politicians in social media on the appointment of Takele Uma Benti as mayor of Addis Ababa, Berhanu Nega, one of the most prominent personalities of the opposition and leader of the party. 39, AG7, questions whether the subject is timely, relevant and in the interest of the forces of Ethiopian political change. "The opposition to and controversy over the appointment of the new mayor should never have occurred." Berhanu Nega is quoted by Ethiopian TV's Berhanu Ethiopian, who was elected mayor of Addis Abeba when the opposition coalition won a landslide victory. in the 2005 national elections, the result of which was overthrown by what many political observers describe as an outright force by the decision of the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, also president of the TPLF and the EPRDF at that time, also pointed out that even the controversy over the Ethiopian flag is not timely and could be postponed for discussion in the future.

"It's the moment," says Berhanu "when we have to focus on the knowledge-based struggle and knowledge [for democracy and rule of law] not a moment of impulsive conflict" thus highlighting neither oppose nor the appointment of the new mayor nor the debate over the Ethiopian flag is a priority for the opposition quarter right now.

The Semayawi Party, an Ethiopian-based opposition group that is planning a merger with Berhanu Nega's AG7 party, formally asked last week that the Ethiopian government should give weight to the demand of the people Ethiopian regarding the national emblem of Ethiopia and change the flag

. against the nomination of Takele Uma Benti, the Oromo Popular Democratic Organization (OPDO), radical Oromo ethno-nationalist activists whose agenda for "the right of the oromo" is certainly removed by the first who has become moderate and goes further At the center of the spectrum of Ethiopian politics, with some tangible gains, seems seize the opportunity to plead for an "oromo" by saying that Addis Ababa belongs to Oromo and the appointment of the new mayor is appropriate

. those who oppose the appointment, which requires circumventing the city bylaw that the mayor of Addis Ababa must be among the council members, express their points that their opposition does not nothing to do with the ethnic identity of the appointee. They point out the fact that they support an Oromo prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, who is the president of the OPDO to which the new mayor belongs. They say rather that Takele Uma Benti has a radical feeling regarding the city of Addis Ababa, headquarters of continental and global organizations with over 90% of non-Oromo residents, although it be a member of a moderate political organization. These groups support their demands with a remark made by the new mayor in the past: "… The question of Addis Ababa is a question of identity" which, according to him, is taken out of context. "Addis Ababa is an international city," he said after his appointment.

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