(Brief summary of interview with Fana Broadcasting, transmitted on the 23rd of June 2021)
In a wide-ranging interview with state-run broadcaster Fana TV, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed talked about various issues, including elections, his government’s performance over the last three years, border issues with Sudan, and the war on Tigray.
It is to be remembered that this interview was scheduled to be aired before the 6th national elections held on 21 June 2021 but was “banned” by the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) on the grounds that “political parties, including the governing party, are not allowed to campaign during the four days preceding the Election Day.” As a result, the interview was aired the day after the election. We will briefly summarize some of the main points raised.
Elections
Asked what was fundamentally different about the 6th national elections, PM Abiy stressed that the main change is the independence of the NEBE. It’s a truly independent institution. The government hasn’t had any influence on the decisions made including the decision to postpone the elections last year according to the Prime Minister. He went on to state that the postponement was actually against the wish of his government which wished to hold the elections as initially scheduled. He argued that this was evidence the proof that, unlike in previous times, this time around the board is truly independent.
Calls for a Transitional Government
Asked about calls for a transitional government, Abiy claimed to have determined that this was not a plausible option because of political polarization and no way to determine representation. Therefore an election was the only way. He suggested that only parties and interests which have been elected as representatives of specific constituencies in these last elections can be considered legitimate partners for future dialogue.
National Challenges
Asked why there was a perception that Ethiopia is experiencing multifaceted challenges, the Prime Minister replied that retrospectively the country has faced several challenges and come out the other end. He argued that current issues were being unnecessarily amplified by “our enemies” who fill the air with negative news although they are aware that the national journey to prosperity cannot be turned back and that Ethiopia will remain an anchor for the region. He went on to list what he considers to be current successes including the GERD and military reforms. In relation to military reforms, Abiy claimed that there is now a more disciplined and “Ethiopian” military. It is to be remembered that tens of thousands of Tigrayans have been purged from ENDF in the last few months. The PM also here used a football match as a metaphor for rules of military engagement, noting that a team (army) had three options to win the game: 1. Win with superior skill; 2. Sabotage the other team out of the line of sight of the referee and 3. Commit a foul in full sight of the referee and leave it up to the referee to handle it as he may.
Border Issues with Sudan
Asked about ongoing border issues with Sudan, Abiy stressed historical ties and cordial relationship with the Sudanese people and claimed that his government has chosen to address the issue diplomatically as a result.
Tigray War
Asked about the War on Tigray, the PM persisted in referring to it in the past tense. He also reiterated the largely discredited claim that Eritrean troops were only at the borders and that they were not actively supporting the Ethiopian Army. Abiy claimed that Human Rights abuses reported in Tigray were not as extensive as is being reported and that a few breaches “here and there” were mainly collateral to the war. He stressed that there were active efforts by the junta (Tigrayan forces) to win a propaganda war, having already lost the war on the ground.
Man-made Famine
Asked about allegations about man-made famine, the Prime Minister said that this has not been proven by data. He denied that his government was weaponizing hunger. Abiy also claimed that calls for unfettered humanitarian access and/or a humanitarian corridor had an ulterior motive. He claimed that during the famine in the 1980s aid agencies had made use of a humanitarian corridor to strengthen TPLF, strategically, ideologically, militarily, and with resources to overthrow the Dergue regime. He declared that these same parties were now operating with a similar plan and this will not be allowed to happen.
Homage to our Martyrs
June 28, 2021 at 6:54 pm
ክረምት ስለ ገባ በትግራይ ያሉ ገበሬዎቻችን ዘር እንዲዘሩ መሬቶቻቸውን እንዲያርሱ ብለው በማሰብ የብልፅግና ባለሥልጣናት በዝግብ ስብሰባ በፓርላማ የፀደቀ ውሳኔ ነው አሉ ከወደ ሰጎኗ የተሰማው ዜና፥፥ላለማስነቃት ብዬ ሳቄን አፍኜ ሰማኋቸው ሲል የቀድሞ ባልደረባዬ በስልክ አጫወተኝ፥፥ ውሸት እንደቅቤ ባደፈ ጨርቅ ላይ አለቅ ብሎ እንደሚታይ ተዋርሷው ውሸት አቁርሰው በጥፋታቸው ዋዜማና መዳረሻ ውሸትን አስደረሩን እራት አቀረቡልን፥፥መጥፊቸው ያርገው፥፥ትግራይ ታሸንፋለች፤፤በአየር በታንክና በፈንጅ ሲጨፈጭፍት ያላ ሳዘናቸው መሬቱ ጦሙ እንዳይከርም ና እንዲያርስ ገዶቸው መቐሌን ለቀቁ የሚለው ትረካ ያሁኑይባስ የሚያሰኝ አውራ ውሸት ነው፥፥ከውሸትና የውሸትና የነፍሰ ቅትለት አባት ሳጥናኤል ጋር በዕፀ ሥልጣንና በደም ተወራርሰዋል ካልጠፉ አይለቃውም፥፥
ትግራይ ታሸንፋለች ለለ ንቕድሚት
Tigray prevail
June 28, 2021 at 6:01 pm
እንቋዕ ደስ በለና ግን ለለ ንቕድሚት !! Our superheroes are in Mekele right now!
This is not the end ;more stories of victory yet to come!!
ትግራይ ትስዕር
June 28, 2021 at 4:12 pm
በ 1983 ሕውሓት ፍንፍኔን በተቆጣጠረበት ሰሙን ብዙዎች በስርቆት የተሰማሩ ነበሩ፥በዚያች የግርግር ሰሙን ብቻ በስርቆት የቶጀሩ ፥ከድህነት አሮንቛ ወጥተው አንቱ የተባሉ ሀብታሞች መካከል የደረሱ ነበሩ፥፥ለትውስታ ሳይሆን ይህን ያነሳነው፥፥በሀገራችን ትግራይ በተለይም በዚህ ሰሙን ከመቸውም ጊዜ በበለጠ ሊጧጧፍ ስለሚችል ስርቆት ለማስገንዘብ ነው፥ ታጋዮቻችን የሕዝባችንን ሀብት ና ጥሪት ብሎም የመንግሥትን ንብረት ከተደራጁና ግለሰብ ሌቦች እንዲታደጉልን አሳስባለሁ፥፥እያንዳንዱ ትግራዋይ ራሱንና አከባቢውን በተቻለው ይከላከል፥፥በዚህ መከራ ጊዜ የወገኑን ሀብትና ንብረት የሚሰርቅ ካለ ከባንዳዎች ተነጥሎ አይታይም፥፥ይህን አደጋ አጉልተው የያሳዩ የተለያዩ ማስረጃዎች እየወጡ ይገኛሉ፥፥በውጭው አለም አንድ ሰው በምንና እንዴት ሀብትናገንዘብ እንደሰበሰበ መንግሥት ይጠይቃል፥ ያጣራል በሀገራችን ግን ይህ አልተለመደም፥፥የትግራይ መንግሥት ሊያስብበት ይገባል፥ባንድ ወቅት የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት በተለያዩ ምክንያቶች ታስረው ነበሩ ወንጀለኞን ያለ አግባብ እንደፈታ ዶክተር ደብረጽዮን ተናግረው ነበር፥፥ ትግራይ ታሸንፋለች፥፥ለለ ንቕድሚት፥ገሥግሥ ከምልማድካ ፥አወት ቀሪባ ኢያ፦
delete previous one comment (this phrase)
ትግራይ ትስዕር
June 28, 2021 at 3:54 pm
ሕውሓት ፍንፍኔን በተቆጣጠረበት ወቅት ብዙዎች በስርቆት የተሰማሩ ነበሩ፥በዚያች የግርግር ሰሙን ብቻ በስርቆት የቶጀሩ ፥ከድህነት አሮንቛ ወጥተው አንቱ የተባሉ ሀብታሞች መካከል የደረሱ ነበሩ፥፥ለትውስታ ሳይሆን ይህን ያነሳነው፥፥በሀገራችን ትግራይ በተለይም በዚህ ሰሙን ከመቸውም ጊዜ በበለጠ ሊጧጧፍ ስለሚችል ታጋዮቻችን የሕዝባችንን ሀብት ና ንብረት ብሎም የመንግሥትን ንብረት ከተደራጁና ግለሰብ ሌቦች እንዲታደጉን አሳስባለሁ፥፥እያንዳንዱ ትግራዋይ ራሱንና አከባቢውን በተቻለው ይከላከል፥፥በዚህ መከራ ጊዜ የወገኑን ሀብትና ንብረት የሚሰርቅ ካለ ከባንዳዎች ተነጥሎ አይታይም፥፥ይህን አደጋ አጉልተው የያሳዩ የተለያዩ ማስረጃዎች እየተደመጡ ይገኛሉ፥፥በውጭው አለም አንድ ሰው በምንና እንዴት ሀብትናገንዘብ መንግሥት ይጠይቃል በሀገራችን ግን ይህ አልተለመደም፥፥የግራይ መንግሥት ያስብበት ይገባል፥ወገናችን ወደ ሱዳንና ወደ በረሃ ሲገባ የወገን ንብረት የሚሰርቅ የከተማም ሆነ የገጠር ነዋሪ ሊር ይችላል፥፥ይህ ማለት ግን በኢትዮጵያና በኤርትራ መንግሥት የተፈፀመ የሥርቆትና የጭፍጨፋ ወንጀል ለማደባበስ አይደለም፥፥ትግራይ ትስዕር፥፥
መገርሳ ለገሰ
June 28, 2021 at 1:52 pm
ከተያዙ በኋላ መንፈራገጥ ለመላላጥ ብሎ ሲተርት የሰማሁት ቆምጩ ተማርኮ ያንኑ በተግባር ሊያሳየን ትግራይ ታሸንፋለች ተገደን ነው የርስርስ ጦርነት ላይ ነን እያለ ሲቀላምድ መስማት የተለመደ ሆኗል
የተማረኩትን የኢትዮጵያና የኤርትራ ወታደሮችን የትግራይን መሬት አርሰውናና አልምተው ሲያበቁ በነካ እጆቻቸው ኦሮሚያን እንዲያንፁ አድርጉልን
ትግራይ ታሸንፋለች
Tigray Prevail
June 27, 2021 at 3:01 pm
There was a virtual discussion at Axumite Media under the title “እቶም ምሩዃት እንታይ ነሸቅሎም፣ ብኸመይ ከ ይትሓዙ? ” As most of us uttered, they should not be released before this man-made horror come to a halt. Secondly, It is not acceptable to say that some of them are less guiltier than the others . All those soldiers entered in Tigray are genociders . They enter to massacre our people.The only difference among them could be the magnitude and extent of the crime they have committed. A soldier couldn’t find without someone who deliver food, military ration and other staff members assisting the armed force .
Most of Us condemned Ethiopian Orthodox Church leaders who support the war against our People .
People like Abel Birhanu, Yosef Yitna, ESAT, Tolosa Ibsa, Zehabesha, Editor in Chief at Zehabesha Henok Alemayehu Degfu, Al Mariam , etc are playing a a huge role in spreading hatred against us and covering up the war crime committed in Tigray.
All these anti-Tigray campaigners , sworn enemies of Tegaru throughout the entire history of Tigray , have committed an outrageous war crimes together with their armed troops who rely on their people for admira-tion, respect, moral support, and financial and material help.
Hence, let alone those soldiers who were killing , torturing, looting and committing sexual violence , all those who are spreading hatred and inciting violence against Tegaru should be brought to justice along with those church leaders who support state based terrorism and ethnic cleansing .
As they hide themselves in darkness to disguise themselves and they named the ethnic cleansing ” military operation” aimed at apprehending TPLF leaders.
As you have been elected by every poor Tigaraweyti mother , you are responsible to protect every tigrean regardless of its economic and social status . I personally donot feel thet I have to cry to a political elites who donot do anything for their own people. I just liked TPLF because it is composed of the entire Tgraway of various walks of life not because of the elites who were spending their whole life building fifine and amhara region while Tigray lives without brudege and light and and modern road.
Therefore, You should not release all those soldiers who massacred and supported the massacre of our people in several positions and titles within this campaign of ethnic cleansing even if they claim they didn’t fire a single bullet.
As you proposed they have to help the farmers who lost the heads of household and who are unable to cultivate their land. We have seen images circling in the social media demonstrating the fact that TDF members helping farmers in cultivating their land while still protecting Tigray.
These socalled POWs, genociders, could do such kind of tasks and rebuilding public infrastructure. We should negotiate to get our people released and do the exchange of prisoners as well if it works as planned.
I cannot justify the release of these prisoners on moral grounds at this time knowing the fact that they will make their return to us and kill our people as usual either being forced, or voluntarily.
There is no a religious or moral ground that favors the killings of ones own people and redemption and freedom of an alien or whatever identity he or she may possess.
የወያኔ ሰበሥልጣናት ሞት ከይኾነስ ነአይ ዘግድሰኒ ናይ ቖልዑት አዴታይ ንፁሓት ሰባት ሞት እዩ፥አድማቶት ክሐንፁ ዝነበሩ ሰበስልጣት ካብ ሐንቲ አዶ ሞት ንላዕሊ አየሕዝነኒን እዩ፥፥ትግራይ ልዕል ሰላሳ አመት ዝኸበቶ የለን አድ አምሐራን ኦሮሞ ዩ ማዕቢሉ ፥ ናይ ጀና ሳይድ ስፖንሰር ኮይኖም ዘለው ሰበሥልጣናትና ናብ ደገ (አሜሪካ ወዘተ)ዝሰደድዎ ሕጂ፥