New regional state to form in Ethiopia
After several months of negotiations between zonal officials, the Ethiopian parliament approved the decision by six local administrations to form a new multiethnic state in Ethiopia named “South West.”
The new regional state has nearly 4 million people and contains different capital cities as political, economic or financial centers to accommodate the region’s development.
“South West is open for business and all Ethiopians belong here,” declared the Regional official Mr Amde Faris, who previously warned that regions named exclusively after one ethnic group in Ethiopia are prone to human rights abuses and widespread violence that has led to economic devastation.
“We are setting a historic example for the rest of the country that we can organize Ethiopian federalism without using ethnic boundaries,” added Mr Faris.
Critics say the new regional state is a danger to the Ethiopian constitution as most other states are named after a single ethnic group. However, a recent survey by AfroBarometer, an independent African organization, revealed that support and opposition for multinational federalism (ethnic-federalism) in Ethiopia is split nearly in half among the population. The recent violence in Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia, where Oromo and Amhara have often been targeted, was the latest deadly symptom of the controversial government structure.
