...Hailemariam has renewed his vows to the country s ambitious public sector-led --------- Growth and Transfor- mation Plan (GTP), and we expect this to be the blueprint for policy decisions at least until the election. ...Hailemariam has renewed his vows to the country s ambitious public sector-led --------- Growth and Transfor- mation Plan (GTP), and we expect this to be the blueprint for policy decisions at least until the election. This close adherence to the status quo is in part down to Hailemariam lacking his predecessor s charisma and shrewd policy instincts, but also the monopolisation of political power by the ruling party, which continues to dictate that elected representatives can govern only so far as they do not deviate from the ruling party line. We do not envisage monopoly being broken in the foreseeable future. ...A Freedom House report published in ---- found Ethiopia the most repressive in Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of internet and digital media freedom. We believe the domination of state-owned telecoms operators by one provider, namely Ethio Telecom, will we believe ensure that internet access remains highly vulnerable to state interference, severely restricting the freedom of expression.
...Ethiopia s much-vaunted democratisation programme � particularly a devolution of authority to the regions � is being used as a facade for ethnically-based divide and rule policies designed to protect the interests of a small Tigrayan-run clique. This increasingly crude con- centration of power ultimately risks exacerbating resentment to the point that largely fragmented groups could coalesce into a coherent armed threat to the regime. ...This increasingly crude con- centration of power ultimately risks exacerbating resentment to the point that largely fragmented groups could coalesce into a coherent armed threat to the regime. Ethiopia s internal political stability has deteriorated mark- edly over the past decade, as Prime Minister Meles Zenawi s Tigrayan-dominated circle of aides has paradoxically sought to use a long-planned democratisation process as a means to further consolidate its cast-iron grip over public affairs and resource allocation. Thus the die appears to have been cast for an increasingly dangerous escalation of tensions between the government and a host of opposition parties, various armed resistance movements and the general population, which are all likely to become increasingly resentful of the status quo over the coming decade. ...ethiopia s Demographic pressures Ethiopia s demography will pose a key challenge to the authorities for the foreseeable future. The powerful Tigrayan ethnic group -- Business Monitor International Ltd www Ethiopia Q- ---- an empire in all But name?
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