Ethiopia's New PM Says Policies Will Remain Constant
Peter Heinlein
September 28, 2012
NEW YORK - Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has pledged to
maintain the controversial policies of his predecessor, Meles Zenawi, who
died last month. The Ethiopian leader outlined his views on foreign and
domestic issues in an interview with VOA's Peter Heinlein in New York.
In a 30-minute conversation, Prime Minister Hailemariam discussed topics
from Ethiopia's strained ties with neighboring Eritrea, relations with China
and the United States, and the government's clampdown on media.
The interview was Hailemariam's first since taking office last week. It took
place in New York, on the eve of his first address as prime minister to the
United Nations General Assembly.
On Eritrea, he said he sees no sign of a thaw in a relationship that has
been frozen since an indecisive two-year war that ended in 2000. That
conflict left at least 70,000 people dead.
Eritrea says progress depends on Ethiopia's acceptance of an international
border commission ruling that favors Eritrea's position. However,
Hailemariam says the only solution lies in bilateral dialogue.
"There is no change in policy. Our policy designed after the war since nine
years, a standing policy that we need to have dialogue without conditions,
so we offered this to the Eritrean government and leadership and are waiting
for this to happen for the last nine years and will continue to do so," said
Hailemariam.
Ethiopia's relations with Egypt also have been strained over sharing Nile
River waters. The government of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak had
resisted efforts by Ethiopia and other countries along the upper Nile to
renegotiate a colonial-era water sharing agreement.
Hailemariam says he will wait to see what policies the new government in
Cairo will adopt.
"The previous Egyptian regime was looking into the Nile issue as a security
issue. There are a number rumors that this is [seen as] a security issue,
but I cannot tell you the government's position until now. So I don't want
to deal with those speculations because we haven't come across officially a
change of policy with the current Egyptian governmen," he said.
Hailemariam also expressed satisfaction with the election of a new president
in neighboring Somalia, and with the signing of a cooperation agreement
between Sudan ad South Sudan. He said both developments will contribute to
regional stability.
The Ethiopian leader said relations with both China and the United States
are good. He rejected a suggestion that Ethiopia is tilting toward Beijing
for economic and ideological reasons, and he defended the decision of
Ethiopia's ruling party to strengthen relations with China's Communist
Party.
"Our party has very close ties with the Communist Party of China because we
have areas where we can learn from the work the Chinese Communist Party is
doing, simply because we are people centered, where Chinese Community Party
has experience with working with people at the grass root, so we learn with
China, this kind of approach, it doesn't mean our ideology is similar to
China," said Hailemariam.
On domestic issues, Hailemariam defended the imprisonment of several
journalists and opposition politicians under a recently enacted
anti-terrorism law. He said those sentenced to long jail terms, such as
award-winning blogger and fierce government critic Eskinder Nega, had been
living a double life, or as he called it, "wearing two hats."
"Our national security interest cannot be compromised by somebody having two
hats. We have to tell them they can have only one hat which is legal and
the legal way of doing things, be it in journalism or opposition discourse,
but if they opt to have two mixed functions, we are clear to differentiate
the two," he said.
The Ethiopian leader also suggested his government will continue to clamp
down on opposition media, including jamming VOA Amharic service broadcasts
and blocking foreign websites considered objectionable.
"My government has no policy of blocking these issues. It is depending on
the websites or whatever, if there is any connection with these kind of
organizations, it's obvious. That's done in every country. You cannot open
a blog of Osama bin Laden in the United States," he said.
Hailemariam is filling out the remainder of the late prime minister Meles'
term, which ends in 2015. He said if the ruling Ethiopia Peoples'
Revolutionary Democratic Front, or EPRDF, gives him the chance, he would
like to serve at least one more term. But he added, "that will be a decision
of the party".
The EPRDF has held power in Addis Ababa since 1991, when it ousted the
pro-Soviet Marxist dictator Mengistu Hailemariam after a lengthy armed
struggle.
