MoFA slams dictates from outside concerning Ethiopia’s internal affairs

Addis Ababa, May 20, 2021 (FBC) – In the biweekly press briefing session, Spokesperson of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Dina Mufti briefed the media on latest developments in Ethiopia.

In his presentation, the Ambassador focused on political diplomacy, the situation in Tigray, the upcoming general elections, economic diplomacy and citizen-centered diplomatic activities.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia has issued a statement over the week opposing what seems a concerted campaign to exert undue pressure against Ethiopia and to make its position unequivocally clear on some of the most important and salient issues. The statement touched upon five points:

Regarding the humanitarian response in the Tigray region, the spokesperson said the issue of access has already been adequately addressed, what people need now is concrete support.

The federal government showed its seriousness over the issue of human rights abuses. Recent investigations and pledges to engage more on the process by the Federal Attorney General, the Federal Police Commission, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights are manifestations of this commitment.

Dwelling on the human right abuse allegations as if the government has done nothing in this regard serves no other purpose than unnecessarily politicizing the issue and exert undue pressure.

The Ethiopian government has been consciously working to promote national dialogue build the necessary national consensus in the country to chart a better way forward. Various engagements with political parties, civic society and many other groups so far indicate the government’s commitment for peace.

However, it should be clear that the push by partners to involve the TPLF, a terrorist group, in this national dialogue process is unacceptable.

On allegations of clampdown on dissent, the unwarranted and unsubstantiated allegations on the stifling of dissent and a crackdown on journalists that some media outlets propagate these days while the country gears up to hold national elections, has no other purpose than to tarnish the government’s image and undermine the electoral process.

What needs to be made clear here is that the Ethiopian government has no desire to clamp down on dissent, otherwise, it would not have invited most of the opposition groups and politicians as well as journalists, activists and others who were in exile to return to their country and operate freely.

It knows full well that this approach has been tried and tested in the past but failed. The government does not believe that there are journalists or politicians jailed because of their political views and opinions. Those behind the bar are accused of violating the law.

Therefore, they will have their day in court and the law will set them free if they are found not guilty. As far as foreign journalists are concerned, the government believes that it is not too much to ask them to strictly abide by the law of the land in carrying out their journalistic work.

On attempts to meddle in Ethiopia’s internal affairs, there have also been repeated attempts to make unwarranted statements on Ethiopia’s internal affairs, particularly in relation to the Amhara regional forces. Ethiopia is a sovereign nation, and it cannot accept any dictates from outside on how to manage its own internal affairs.

Regarding the upcoming elections, he said, reports of some media outlets giving the impression that the government has decided to postpone the election due to internal and external pressures are part of the media disinformation campaign.

Reports of some media outlets giving the impression that the government has decided to postpone the election indefinitely are also unfounded. Specific dates to run the elections will be disclosed by the NEBE.

Ethiopians and people of Ethiopian origin living in Washington DC made a rally calling on some international organizations and countries to stop unduly pressuring the Ethiopian government. Participants at the rally said Ethiopia has the right to maintain its territorial integrity, defend itself from aggressors, and dictations from third parties to do otherwise to a sovereign state should not be acceptable.

Referring to the State Department’s recent statement on Ethiopia, they said it was influenced by unsubstantiated TPLF claims and sidelined the historical relationships between the two countries. They further said that the statement has undermined Ethiopia’s sovereignty and did not positively contribute to the peaceful coexistence of people in the country.

Ethiopians and origins of Ethiopians living in Canada raised 50,000 Canadian Dollars while those in Germany raised more than one million birr to support the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. 1200 citizens were repatriated from Saudi Arabia, Riyadh recently, he added.