The political parties reached an agreement on the areas and orders of the dialogue

June 25, 2019

The Political Parties Dialogue is one of the various changes introduced by the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia to build a credible institution. The discussion, coordinated by the Board, has yielded various results so far:

• Political parties have signed an agreement;
• Discuss and approved the rules of the discussion
• Establish a joint council and elect leaders

In today's discussion, political parties have chosen topics and moderators for their discussions on various national issues. The political parties presented their discussion topics and discussion sequences in advance, and the Board compiled the sequences and compiled a variety of sequencing options for discussion. The following options were discussed by party representatives in a group of 13, and at the end of the discussion, they presented the topics that should be discussed. After discussing the proposed alternatives, the parties agreed to discuss the following topics in order.

1. Regarding the issue of political parties

• Support for political parties;
• Coalition of Political Parties
• Unregistered parties (foreign and domestic);

2. Regarding the Election Board

• About the organization of the Electoral Board;
• Updating the election process
• Civic and voter education;

3. Election 2012 and local elections

• Concerning the extension of the election,
• 2012 General Election
• Local elections,
• Peace and stability,
• Human rights

4. Constitution and Federalism

• Constitutional amendments;
• The federal system and the working language (making Afan Oromo equal to Amharic as a working language);
• The case of Addis Ababa;
• Getting balanced representation at all levels,
• Identity questions and boundary conflicts;
• Investigate the causes of internal conflicts in regions;
• The federal system and the distribution of wealth;
• Examine the strengths and weaknesses of the federal system.
• Government organization,
• Federal zoning, boundary and identity issues;
• Concerning the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's Region
• Investigate the issue of demarcation in Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region
• Federal Cities and Residents

5. On the issue of reforming democratic institutions

• Media law amendment;
• Format the federal media service delivery;
• Neutrality and use of the media;
• Improving the construction of prosecutors, police, security and defense institutions;
• Improving the judicial system

6. Issues related to national consensus

• National flag,
• National Reconciliation,
• Census,

7. Foreign Policy

• Relations with neighboring countries;

In addition, a variety of independent mediators will be selected, and individuals and scholars will be selected to conduct the discussions based on their willingness.