The ruling party in Ethiopia often describes the country as a
"developmental democracy" and its policy as "revolutionary democracy."
But opponents question what these policies mean, and say the country
is not enjoying much democracy or development at all.
The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front has governed
Ethiopia for the past 24 years. For most of that time, the party has
promoted the ideologies known as "revolutionary democracy" and
"developmental democracy."
Under these policies, the country has experienced double-digit
economic growth after the grueling famine of the mid-1980s.
“You can opt for democracy to be built evolutionary, gradually. You
could also opt for a democracy, which must be revolutionary,
radically, all the system, all the thinking must be changed, root and
branch completely and fast. So this is revolutionary," explained
Redwan Hussein, a government spokesman who also used to head the
ruling party’s secretariat.
According to the government, "developmental democracy" means there
will be no development without democracy, or democracy without
development.
Hallelujah Lulie of the Institute of Security Studies says there is a
built-in tension between the two ideologies.
“But the government in development state or democratic developmental
state, the role in the economy and the public life, it will decrease
through time. But in revolutionary democracy it will increase through
time. So that is the difference between the two, in my
interpretation," said Lulie.
Ethiopia's economy is managed through five-year plans aimed at making
Ethiopia a middle-income country by the mid-2020s.
In Addis Ababa, the development is very noticeable, with many new
roads, high buildings, an elevated railway and many condominiums to
provide housing for the masses.
But two of the bigger opposition parties, Medrek and Blue Party, are
critical of the ideological terms and their meaning.
They contest the idea that Sunday's election will be democratic,
saying they face intimidation and harassment by the police and ruling
party supporters.
And despite the impressive growth numbers, thousands of Ethiopians
leave the country every month hoping to find better lives in the
Middle East or Europe.
Medrek chairman Beyene Petros says the development is not affecting
the larger population, as 85 percent of Ethiopians live in rural
areas:
“I am the first generation moving into an urban setting. So the people
that I knew 50 years ago are just living the same kind of life.
Scratching the land, using the same plow. The difference is the piece
of land which they used to hold, which was much larger, has no shrunk
to literally about one-tenth because of the population pressure," said
Petros.
The EPRDF is expected to win Sunday's elections and the party has
already said that five more years of EPRDF will mean a continuation of
current policies.
Received on Fri May 22 2015 - 21:32:00 EDT