Ethiopia and the horn of Africa

It is important that Ethiopia continues to be the "cool cat" in the crowd, staying calm and peaceful so not to disturb the fragile democracies in the making all around it.

Sunniva Hersir Sollid

by Sunniva Hersir Sollid, Student

Ethiopia is facing a very important election; the election of a new Patriarch which is currently being discussed in the high ranks of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Who it will be and what the implications might be is still unclear, but the outcome could have an effect not only on Ethiopia but the entire horn of Africa.

The Oslo Center is currently involved in three countries on the horn of Africa, all of them neighbors to the same country: Ethiopia. Since 2005, Ethiopia has been a relatively calm and peaceful country. Having a new government and slowly becoming a democracy after years of living first as a monarchy, then under a communist regime, Ethiopians have hope for the future. Both the former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and the former Patriarch Abune Paulos have been deeply involved in keeping the peace after the Derg regime was defeated. They have initiated peace talks and interreligious dialogues that have helped the country move forwards and out of its oppressing past.

Changes in the situation

With the election of a new Patriarch coming up, there is much talk of different possible outcomes among the Ethiopian people. The late patriarch, Abune Paulos, was a liberal man who initiated peace talks with Eritrea during the civil war and was the initiator for the interreligious dialogues between the different religious communities in Ethiopia. He was concerned with the welfare of all religious communities and spent much time on interreligious relations. He became one of the seven serving presidents of the World Council of Churches and was a pioneer in his country.

With the election coming up, people are asking themselves if the next Patriarch will be as liberal as Abune Paulos. If they elect someone more conservative, many of the forums and dialogue centers might not survive. These interreligious meeting points are important for the religious freedom and tolerance in the country, if they shut down there will be no arena where doubt, suspicion and rumors can be confronted thru dialogue. Leaving statements uncommented and not confronted could lead to suspicion and rumors, and in the end false statements can be seen as the truth.

The possible impact

Having an unstable country in the midst of all these newly developing democracies on the horn of Africa is not ideal. Somalia is closely tied with Ethiopia, having its own region in Ethiopia in the southeast called Somali with more than 4.6 million people, making it the biggest Somali state second only to Somalia itself. Being in the process of building a democracy from scratch, Somalia does not have the resources to help a neighboring country. This is also the case with Kenya, being but two weeks from the general election and trying to keep the calm in a country where the last presidential election ended with 1300 dead. These new and fragile democracies are unstable enough themselves without having a neighboring country, which has been calm and peaceful until now, becoming unstable and disrupt the developments towards democracy on the horn of Africa.

It is important that Ethiopia continues to be the "cool cat" in the crowd, staying calm and peaceful so not to disturb the fragile democracies in the making all around it.