I would rather die than hand over power, says Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed
ADDIS ABEBA – A sound released by Kello Media from Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who appeals to members of the Welfare Party, could diminish the prominent young Democrat’s international reputation, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, over his efforts to restore peace in the Horn of Africa.
Ahmed, 46, rose to power in 2018 but since then, despite extensive democratic reforms in Ethiopia, he has often been criticized for growing ethnic tensions, which have left thousands dead, especially in the Oromia, Tigray and Amhara regions.
PM is also under increasing pressure to restore order in the Tigray region, where Ethiopia’s national defense force [ENDF] and Eritrean troops have unleashed on the people’s liberation front Tigray [TPLF]. But some reports have linked the troops to massive atrocities against civilians, and some call them “genocide”.
He has not yet withdrawn Eritrean troops from Tigray, leading to the imposition of restrictions on top officials from Ethiopia and Eritrea. US President Joe Biden recently called for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Tigray genocide.
But the sound, which made rounds on social media, shows, after all, Abiy Ahmed as an authoritarian leader who has little regard for the rule of law and democracy, something that could worry the whole Horn of Africa and the world at large.
In the audio, Ahmed is heard blaming the Coronavirus pandemic for the delay in the Ethiopian election scheduled for August 2020, claiming: “For our part, we will do everything we can to ensure that there are no irregularities in the forthcoming votes.”
“We are committed to holding elections this year to avert a situation like the one we experienced last year,” the prime minister added amid applause from members of the ruling party, who are under pressure to pave the way for democracy and rule. law.
The prime minister continues to punch holes in the opposition, the media and activists, whom he accuses of having planned to “take” power. The political party’s political thinking, he adds, must do everything to “counter” such attempts in the coming years.
He urges party members to take precautionary measures and notes that the benefits of his administration will be eroded if “strangers” take over. He describes the opposition and activists as “unpredictable parties” who can “water down all our gains”.
“It must be borne in mind that the so-called politicians and activists want to take power. Because of this, we must take precautionary measures to counter their attempts,” the Prime Minister is heard saying in the explosive sound, the origin of which has not yet been determined. .
Of more concern is the party where Abiy Ahmed vows never to hand over power to anyone at least for the next decade, an indication that he continued to hold on to power like other Africans stronger. In Africa, existing clients prefer to hold on to power with orthodox means.
“No one will be able to form a government for the next ten years. I would rather die than hand over power to them. We will take action. As a result, there will be a high level of death and bloodshed,” he said. .
But the prime minister’s office has since called the clip “fake”, even though many voice analysts insisted it was “genuine”. According to the PM’s team, the clip was a compilation of “unrelated” comments from the PM during the meeting with party members last week.
“The Prime Minister’s Office would like to confirm that the alleged leak from Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali during last week’s prosperous party meeting is a FAKE audio compilation compiled by drawing on various unrelated comments from the PM,” the statement said.
“By editing it in a compilation, the false sound is being leaked. In this era of disinformation and as elections approach, we urge citizens to be vigilant about such types of disinformation campaigns aimed at creating discord.”
Abiy Ahmed has fought to seize control of the Horn of Africa, often accused of unfairly targeting critics such as Jawar Mohammed, a media mogul arrested earlier this year after protests in the capital Addis Ababa. About 300 people have been killed in ethnic cleansing.
But more worrying is the current situation in the Tigray region, where the army has unleashed violence on innocent civilians, leading to mass murder. The government denies these allegations despite various confirmatory evidence from various media houses.
AXADLETM
.
