Oromo Federalist Congress | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | |
| Chairperson | Merera Gudina |
| Founded | July 2012 |
| Preceded by | |
| Headquarters | Addis Ababa |
| Youth wing | Oromo Youth League |
| Ideology | |
| House of Peoples' Representatives | 11 / 547 |
| Website | |
| oromofederalist | |
The Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) (Oromo : Koongiresii Federalawaa Oromoo, KFO; is a political party based in Ethiopia that was created in 2012 from the merger of the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement and Oromo People's Congress. [1]
In July 2012, Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement and Oromo People's Congress merged, creating the Oromo Federalist Congress. [2] [1]
Senior leaders of OFC in early 2020 included Merera Gudina and Bekele Gerba, both who had spent long periods as prisoners. Merera was chair, Bekele was deputy chair, and Desta Dinka was Youth League chair. [3]
Jawar Mohammed became a member of OFC on 28 December 2019. [4]
In preparation for the 2021 Ethiopian general election, that had been constitutionally scheduled for May 2020, OFC agreed to form an electoral coalition with Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) [3] and Oromo Nationalist Party (ONP) led by Kemal Gelchu. [4]
On 25 November 2021 during the TDF–OLA joint offensive of the Tigray War, OFC called for an inclusive transitional government to be created. OFC described the situation as "an avoidable war ... raging all over the country[,] consuming the lives of tens of thousands and bringing misery for tens of millions ... not limited to armed factions, but also [including] ordinary citizens with no real training for war or [who] have no knowledge of international rules of engagements in war [and who became] active actors of the horror." The OFC's proposal included an immediate ceasefire, the release of all political prisoners, and "a total repudiation of all incitements to violence and hate speech in all forms". The OFC called for the immediate creation of a 3–6 month interim government headed by a mutually accepted person, and the main goal of the interim government being to create an "all-inclusive transitional government that shall last for 18 months", followed by "free, fair and credible elections". [5]
The United Ethiopian Democratic Forces was a coalition of several political parties in Ethiopia which combined to compete for seats in the Ethiopian general elections held on 15 May 2005.
The Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement Oromo: Warraaqsa Federaalistii Uummata Oromoo, OFDM) was a political party in Ethiopia, created in 2005 by Bulcha Demeksa to further the interests of the Oromo people as an alternative to the armed Oromo Liberation Front. In the 15 May 2005 federal election, the party won 11 seats, all from the Oromia Region. In March 2006, the party Whip was Mesfin Nemera Deriesa from the West Wallaga Zone. The OFDM merged with the Oromo People's Congress (OPC), forming the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), in 2012.
The Oromo Liberation Front is an Oromo nationalist political party formed in 1973 to promote self-determination for the Oromo people inhabiting today's Oromia Region and Oromia Zone in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. The OLF has offices in Addis Ababa, Washington, D.C., and Berlin, from which it operates radio stations that broadcast in Amharic and Oromo.
The Oromo People's Congress (OPC) was a federalist and Oromo nationalist opposition political party in Ethiopia. It was founded in April 1996 as the Oromo National Congress by Merera Gudina, who was its chairman. However, the party licence and name were allegedly given to a marginal splinter group by the National Election Board of Ethiopia in order to undermine the party and create confusion among the voters after the May 2005 election, so the party was forced to change its name to Oromo People's Congress prior to the 2008 by-elections. OPC merged with Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM), forming the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), in 2012.
Merera Gudina is an Ethiopian professor and politician. He is the leader of the Oromo People's Congress (OPC), a political party representing the Oromo people. The organization is opposed to the previous ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front and the current authoritarian ruling Abiy Ahmed's Prosperity Party. He has been described as Ethiopian "leading opposition politician".
Medrek, officially the Ethiopia Federal Democratic Unity Forum, is an Ethiopian political coalition founded in 2008 by former defense minister Siye Abraha and former president Negasso Gidada. The election symbol of the party is five fingers. On 2008 election, Medrek won a single seat in the House of Peoples' Representatives, representing an electoral district in Addis Ababa. This was allegedly due to lack of election transparency. Medrek won 30% of the individual vote nationwide but received only one seat in parliament since Ethiopia's elections are conducted under a single-member plurality voting system.
A state of emergency was declared on 9 October 2016 by Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, after de facto taking effect the previous day. The state of emergency authorized the military to enforce security nationwide. It imposed restrictions on freedom of speech and access to information. The duration was initially announced for six months. The Constitution of Ethiopia provides for a six-month state of emergency under certain conditions. The declaration of the state of emergency followed massive protests by the Oromo and Amhara ethnic groups against the government, which was dominated by the Tigray People's Liberation Front, largely consisting of Tigrayans, a smaller ethnic group. The 2016 state of emergency was the first in about 25 years in Ethiopia. In March 2017, Ethiopia's parliament voted to extend the state of emergency for another four months.
The Oromia Broadcasting Network (OBN) is an Ethiopian public service broadcaster headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is the leading media organization in Oromia and broadcasts on Eutelsat via the Ethiosat platform.
Jawar Mohammed is an Ethiopian political analyst and activist. One of the founders of the Oromia Media Network (OMN), Jawar was a leading organizer of the 2014–2016 Oromo protests. He has been credited with toppling the incumbent government in February 2018 and bringing Abiy Ahmed to power.
The 2021 Ethiopian general election to elect members of the House of Peoples' Representatives was held on 21 June 2021 and 30 September 2021. Regional elections were also held on those dates.
The Hachalu Hundessa riots were a series of civil unrest that occurred in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia, more specifically in the hot spot of Addis Ababa, Shashamene and Ambo following the killing of the Oromo musician Hachalu Hundessa on 29 June 2020. The riots lead to the deaths of at least 239 people according to initial police reports. Peaceful protests against Hachalu's killing have been held by Oromos abroad as well. The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) found in its 1 January 2021 full report that part of the killings were a crime against humanity, with deliberate, widespread systematic killing of civilians by organised groups. The EHRC counted 123 deaths, 76 of which it attributed to security forces.
The Coalition of Ethiopian Federalist Forces was a coalition of Ethiopian political parties from 2019 to 2020 that included the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the former ruling party that lost power in 2018.
Events in the year 2021 in Ethiopia.
Bekele Gerba is an Ethiopian politician and activist. He is a member of Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) which promotes political change by nonviolence. He was imprisoned from 2011 to 2015, 2015–2018 and again on 30 June 2020 following the Hachalu Hundessa riots.
The Tigrayan peace process encompasses the series of proposals, meetings, agreements and actions that aimed to resolve the Tigray War.
Following the 2018 dissolution of the ethnic federalist, dominant party political coalition, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, there was an increase in tensions within the country, with newly resurgent regional and ethnically based factions carrying out armed attacks on military and civilians in multiple conflicts throughout Ethiopia.
The Kimant Democratic Party or KDP is a political party of the Qemant people in Ethiopia.
The 1995 Ethiopian Federal Constitution formalizes an ethnic federalism law aimed at undermining long-standing ethnic imperial rule, reducing ethnic tensions, promoting regional autonomy, and upholding unqualified rights to self-determination and secession in a state with more than 80 different ethnic groups. But the constitution is divisive, both among Ethiopian nationalists who believe it undermines centralized authority and fuels interethnic conflict, and among ethnic federalists who fear that the development of its vague components could lead to authoritarian centralization or even the maintenance of minority ethnic hegemony. Parliamentary elections since 1995 have taken place every five years since enactment. All but one of these have resulted in government by members of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) political coalition, under three prime ministers. The EPRDF was under the effective control of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which represents a small ethnic minority. In 2019 the EPRDF, under Abiy, was dissolved and he inaugurated the pan-ethnic Prosperity Party which won the 2021 Ethiopian Election, returning him as prime minister. But both political entities were different kinds of responses to the ongoing tension between constitutional ethnic federalism and the Ethiopian state's authority. Over the same period, and all administrations, a range of major conflicts with ethnic roots have occurred or continued, and the press and availability of information have been controlled. There has also been dramatic economic growth and liberalization, which has itself been attributed to, and used to justify, authoritarian state policy.
Oromo nationalism is an ethnic nationalism advocating the self-interest of Oromo people in Ethiopia and Kenya. Many Oromo elites, intellectuals and political leaders struggled to create an independent Oromia state throughout 19th and 20th century, since the start of Abyssinian colonialism under Emperor Menelik II. No consensus has been reached yet regarding the motives of this type of nationalism, whether the Oromos librate themselves to form a nation-state or offer self-determination in federal Ethiopia.
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