Federalist Democratic Oromo Movement

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The Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement ( oromiffaa : Warraaqsa Fedaraalistii Dimokraatawa Oromo , known by the abbreviation WAFIDO ; amharic የኦሮሞ ፌደራሊስት ዴሞክራቲክ ንቅናቄ English Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement , abbreviation OFD M or OFDM ) is a regional power and ethnic nationalist opposition party in Ethiopia , which has set itself the goal of representing the interests of the Oromo people .

The party is one of the largest opposition parties. The chairman of the party is Bulcha Demeksa . The party leader is Mesfin Nemera Deriesa from the Mirab Welega zone.

ideology

The Federal Democratic Oromo Movement deplores the marginalization of the Oromo in Ethiopia since the rule of Emperor Menelink II. It accuses the ruling Revolutionary Democratic Front of the Ethiopian Peoples of breaking the promise of 1991, in which it promised the Oromo political participation and adequate representation . At the same time, she accused the ruling People's Liberation Front of Tigray for being repressive against the largest ethnic group in the country - the Oromo, and for non-compliance with the federal administrative structure in Ethiopia . Overall, WAFIDO accepts the principles of the Ethiopian constitution, opposes state interventionism and advocates a free market economy in the Oromia region in Ethiopia - while at the same time respecting the rights of workers. In foreign policy she advocates peaceful neighborhood and cooperation with all of the country's neighboring states.

The main demands and goals of WAFIDO are:

  1. The arable land should belong to the farmers, the Ethiopian state should give up ownership of the land and grant the farmers their rights
  2. The federal system is to be retained, a unitary Ethiopian state is never to be reintroduced
  3. Afaan Oromo (also Oromiffa), the most widely spoken mother tongue in Ethiopia, is to be introduced as the second working and official language alongside Amharic
  4. The direct election of the president is to be introduced, the electoral system is one the properties presidential system of government have

Political activity

In the parliamentary elections on May 15, 2005, the Federal Democratic Oromo Movement won 2% of the vote and thus 11 of the 547 seats in the House of Representatives . In the regional elections in August 2005, however, the party won only 10 of the 537 seats in the regional parliament of the Oromia region. Party leader Bulcha Demeksa then announced that he would boycott the 2008 by-elections. Nonetheless, WAFIDO in 2008 won one of the 116 cities that held the elections.

The party founded the Medrek alliance , also known as the Forum for Democratic Dialogue , with other opposition forces (including the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces under Beyene Petros, former President Negasso Gidada , former Defense Minister Siye Abraha and the ARENA party) .

In June 2008, WAFIDO accused the Ethiopian government of ignoring the interethnic conflict in the west of the country, in which around 400 Oromos were incidentally killed. She described the incident as a massacre and considered the EPRDF government to be complicit .

The General Secretary of the Federal Democratic Oromo Movement, Bekele Jirata , was arrested along with fourteen other ethnic Oromo in November 2008 on charges of contacts with the banned rebel organization Oromo Liberation Front and a militia, the hitherto unknown Kawerj . On February 4, 2009, he was released on bail.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ English-language website of the House of Representatives of the Nations ( Memento of September 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from August 28, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wafido.org
  3. ↑ African Elections Database ( English ).
  4. ↑ Ethiopia's local elections marred by opposition boycott In: Sudan Times April 21, 2008 (last accessed June 1, 2008).
  5. ^ The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia Official Result of the Local and By-Elections Held on April 13 and April 20, 2008 ( Memento of May 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Walta Information Center , May 2008 (last accessed on March 17 2009)
  6. ↑ Ethiopia opposition calls for probe into “massacre”. ( Memento of the original from September 8, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / africa.reuters.com
  7. ↑ Ethiopia: Arbitrary detention / torture or other ill-treatment Amnesty International report AFR 25/012/2008, November 14, 2008 (last accessed May 13, 2009).
  8. ↑ "OFDM leader Bekele Jirata released on bail" ( Memento of the original from February 9, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Jimma Times . February 4, 2009 (last accessed March 9, 2009). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.jimmatimes.com