Ethiopia’s Public Protests (2015-2018)

From Dynamics of Contention Approach

Abstract

After the toppling of the Dergue regime in 1991 through popular struggle, the new government promised to ensure multinational federalism, self-determination, self-governance, regional autonomy, constitutional governance, management of diversity, democratic elections, parliamentarian democracy, multiparty system, rule of law, peace and security and socio-economic development. These promises helped the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), which was a coalition of four ethno-nationalist parties, get the support of international donors and global powers, mainly since late 1990s. Unlike the numerical disagreements, this leadership is successful in terms of achieving impressive economic growth. Contrary to this remarkable economic performance, Ethiopia has been experiencing colossal public protests since 2015. This paper examined the political developments, particularly the causes of the protests, the kind of political change the protests brought and the promises, performances and challenges of the new leadership, by employing a systematic review. The findings revealed that, due to the complex interplay between the causes, changes and challenges of the protests, the result of the protests is not found to be transformative.  Thus, it is at least safe to extrapolate that the country’s long-standing political problems have been exacerbated by the current ethnic tension, redefinition of nationality, erosion of the rule of law, arbitrariness, informality, insecurity and lack of peace, distrust and the coronavirus pandemic.