A queue of eager voters in Hawassa, Ethiopia, during the Sidama referendum in November 2019.
Photo by Michael Tewelde/AFP via Getty Images
Ethiopian history shows that the demands of its young people can’t go unaddressed for long.
The government must encourage demands for the creation of new states to be an outcome of negotiations.
Shutterstock
In a country where there are more than 80 ethnic groups, the territorial solution isn’t a feasible solution.
The Sidama referendum result is just the beginning of what is expected to be a long process to self-determination.
Shutterstock
In practical terms. Sidama’s successful push has created more groups that aspire to homogenise the demography of their regions.
The thread that holds Ethiopia together could be unravelling.
Stephen Morrison/EPA
Calls for secession in Ethiopia could destabilise the entire nation.
Young men in the traditional attire of southern Ethiopia’s Sidama people.
commons.wikimedia.org
The already extremely fragile political condition cannot handle any further instability and chaos.
Demonstrators chant slogans while flashing the Oromo protest gesture during Irreecha, the thanksgiving festival of the Oromo people, in Bishoftu town, Oromia region, Ethiopia, October 2, 2016.
Reuters/Tiksa Negeri
The current state of emergency in Ethiopia is the last attempt by the Tigrayan-led regime to stop the Oromo and Amhara protests and maintain political power.