The Oct. 12 editorial “State of emergency” concluded that with a state of emergency, Ethiopia’s leaders are borrowing a brutal tactic from dictators and trying to put a cork in genuine popular dissent, and said “it won’t work.”
The protests staged in some parts of the country have raised some legitimate questions about the absence of good governance, leadership inefficiency, dislocation of farmers, unemployment and other policy-implementation problems. The decision to declare a state of emergency was taken to deal with threats to peace and security posed against the nation by anti-peace groups in close collaboration with foreign elements. The declaration came after deliberations on the recent loss of life, damage to property and assessment of the situation of the country.
Ethiopia’s government is committed to ensuring all fundamental human rights as stipulated in Ethiopia’s constitution. The declaration also helps to accelerate and carry forward the efforts being made by the government and the people of Ethiopia to solve the pressing problems and challenges facing the country. It will work. Ethiopia should reinforce its efforts to resist domestic and foreign terrorists and anti-peace elements.
Tesfaye Wolde, Washington
The writer is minister counselor for the Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
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