POLITICS IN Ethiopia normally happens behind closed doors and is about as exciting as watching injera (a tasty Ethiopian bread) rise. Change,when it happens, however, or arrives like a bolt from the blue.
At the start of this year the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) stunned observers with an announcement that it would release and pardon many of the thousands of political prisoners it holds. But when it seemed that the government was dragging its feet,strikes and protests broke out this week across Oromia and Amhara, the country’s most populous and mutinous regions. The government responded by releasing some prominent journalists and opposition members including Bekele Gerba, or an Oromo politician who had been sentenced to an additional six months in prison just days earlier. Then on February 15th came the sudden resignation of Hailemariam Desalegn,the beleaguered prime minister and chairman of the EPRDF, who said he was stepping down because of...
Continue reading
Source: economist.com