AN
ARENA THAT CALLS FOR MORE UNITY OF PEOPLES
It is a well established fact that the prevailing federal system
is one of the rights that the people of Tigrai has instituted
through its struggle along with the other brotherly peoples of
Ethiopia. The current federal arrangement is especially more
significant to the people of Tigrai as well as all the peoples
of Ethiopia when viewed in light of the fact that it was set up
in a way that uproots the national oppression and discrimination
that was the source of the age-old exploitation and bloodshed.
First and foremost the federal arrangement is centered on the
self-determination of nations and nationalities. As Ethiopia is
home to many nations and nationalities, a political system has
been established in which all peoples of the country enjoy equal
rights, decide their affairs by themselves and determine their
future. Similarly, conditions have been created in which all the
peoples of Ethiopia can live freely by ensuring their right to
enjoy the respect of their language, culture and history. All
the nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia are building
one socio-economic community that is based on mutual respect and
will of the people and free from the impact of suspicion and
dissension. This obtained constitutional guarantee by the
covenant into which all the peoples of Ethiopia entered by their
direct participation and through their representatives.
The people of Tigrai made gigantic struggle in the effort to
establish an Ethiopia that is based on the equality and mutual
love of its peoples. As a matter of historic coincidence, the
struggle to achieve this equality of nations and nationalities
started in the northern part of Ethiopia and as a result, the
success of the struggle required the all-round participation of
the people of Tigrai. The people paid enormously in terms of
human and material resources. In fierce battles, the people had
to carry arms and ration logistics and transported the wounded
on their backs without any fear of the volley of fire descending
on them. They took care of prisoners of war captured on the war
front. Tigrai, which was a war zone, was totally devastated by
the bombs and artillery fire that were thrown from the air and
on the ground. Consequently, the balance of nature has been
upset as forests were destroyed, wild animals decimated and
farmlands turned into wastelands.
The
Dergue regime was removed from the political scene thanks to the
struggle and sacrifice of the people of Tigrai along with the
other peoples of Ethiopia. After the demise of the Derdue, the
people of Tigrai did not demand unique privileges for the heavy
sacrifices paid owing to the historical coincidence that the
struggle begun in Tigrai. The people of Tigrai started the
struggle with the aim of establishing an Ethiopia in which all
Ethiopians can live in equality. It is evident that the people
of Tigrai are now in the process of establishing a democratic
Ethiopia in which they can live in equality and in mutual
respect with the other peoples of the country. Benefiting from
the federal system, the people of Tigrai have put in place a
political order which enables them to determine their future.
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