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Viewing cable 06ADDISABABA2032, ETHIOPIA: PARLIAMENTARY REFORMS DEMONSTRATE A STEP

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06ADDISABABA2032 2006-07-25 06:07 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Addis Ababa
VZCZCXRO9904
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHDS #2032/01 2060607
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 250607Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1735
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ADDIS ABABA 002032 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/E 
LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ET KDEM
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: PARLIAMENTARY REFORMS DEMONSTRATE A STEP 
IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION 
 
REF: ADDIS ABABA 01743 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  In early 2006, the Ethiopian government, 
in conjunction with donors, commissioned international 
experts from four parliamentary democracies (United Kingdom, 
Canada, Germany, and India) to develop a set of parliamentary 
procedure reform recommendations for the Ethiopian House of 
People,s Representatives.  The resulting proposals focused 
largely on creating opportunity for participation by minority 
parties and dispersing parliamentary procedural powers among 
parties.  Though the ruling EPRDF called for roundtable 
discussions with opposition political parties on the 
implementation of the proposals, the two largest opposition 
parties refused to join forces at the negotiation table.  The 
resulting package of reforms met international experts' 
recommendations, but not the ambitious opposition parties' 
objectives.  The reforms represent a tangible example of the 
GoE addressing major complaints of the opposition that 
contributed to the November violence.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
EXPERTS DEVELOP 20 POINT LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
2. (U) During the first quarter of 2006, former 
parliamentarians and parliamentary clerks from the United 
Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and India were commissioned to 
analyze the Ethiopian House of People,s Representatives 
(HPR) rules of procedure.  The project was undertaken because 
of severe opposition criticism that the rules had been 
changed by the ruling party during the session of parliament 
preceding the election of the opposition.  The second reason 
was the Prime Minister's commitment to the USG and the Troika 
to continue the EPRDF dialogue with the opposition to address 
the agenda items raised by the opposition: parliamentary 
rules; rule of law; and the media.  The goal of the analysis 
was to assess the rules of procedure and code of conduct and 
to recommend improvements to align them with international 
democratic standards.  In order to develop their 
recommendations, they worked closely with the Speaker and 
Secretariat of the HPR to understand the most recent 
 
SIPDIS 
procedural rules and the new code of conduct implemented 
following the May 2005 parliamentary elections.  Following 
the completion of the study, these experts issued a 120-page 
document that outlined best practices in each of their 
respective parliaments, as well as a set of 20 
recommendations for the GoE to consider that would bring the 
HPR closer to internationally accepted parliamentary 
procedures. 
 
3. (U) The set of 20 recommendations addressed a number of 
concerns regarding involvement of opposition political 
parties in the legislative process.  Currently, opposition 
political parties in the HPR hold 153 of a total of 547 
seats, a significant increase from before the May 2005 
elections, when the opposition held only 12 seats. 
Nevertheless, there is widespread recognition that the 
opposition has largely been procedurally marginalized in 
parliamentary agenda setting, despite its increased 
representation.  The recommendations of the experts addressed 
this and other issues with the following suggestions: 
 
a. Instead of the current 'Coordinating Committee,' which has 
no opposition representation, a joint working group which 
handles procedures and internal affairs should be set up, and 
should include representatives from all parties. 
 
b. Form a proportionally-represented  elders, committee to 
help prepare agendas, as well as oversee the administration 
and budget of the parliament. 
 
c. Make a provision for additional Assistant Deputy 
Speakers--one or more of whom does not come from the ruling 
party--in addition to consider creating another Deputy 
Speaker position for the opposition. 
 
d. Allow one of the important committee chair positions to be 
occupied by an opposition member.  Committee chair and deputy 
chair positions should be distributed among parties, 
reflecting parties' relative representation.  Committees 
should also be expanded to involve more parliamentarians. 
 
e. Develop procedures to allow minority parties to 
 
ADDIS ABAB 00002032  002 OF 004 
 
 
participate in committees, so that committees function in a 
non-partisan manner. 
 
f. Allow debate on opposition-proposed items at least one 
afternoon every two weeks. 
 
g. Allow individual members to table motions or amendments to 
bills. 
 
h. Allow all parties to debate the GoE,s plans for the 
upcoming year, following the PM,s statement.  The opposition 
should be allowed to propose amendments and the discussion 
should end in a vote. 
 
i. Allow a weekly question and answer session in which 
parliamentarians can address all GoE ministers. 
 
j. Allow significant time to discuss the budget in plenary 
session, and allow budget expenditures to be considered in 
all standing committees. 
 
k. Clarify requirements for parliamentarians to make public 
declaration of relevant financial interests 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
GOVERNMENT CALLS FOR NEGOTIATIONS WITH OPPOSITION 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
4. (SBU) Following the completion of this study and review by 
the GoE, the ruling Ethiopian People,s Revolutionary 
Democratic Front (EPRDF) met with opposition parties to 
discuss the experts, suggestions, prior to the bill's 
submission to parliament.  The GoE intended that this meeting 
include all the major opposition parties collectively, 
including the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUDP), 
the Unified Ethiopian Democratic Force (UEDF) and the Oromo 
Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM).  However, when 
approached, the CUDP agreed, whereas a coalition of the UEDF 
and OFDM refused.  Dr. Beyene Petros, the leader of the UEDF 
party, told Charge that he felt they would &get a better 
deal8 from the EPRDF if UEDF did not negotiate alongside the 
CUDP.  When asked to elaborate further, Beyene was vague, but 
hinted that the CUDP would not be strong enough to pressure 
the EPRDF.  In a meeting with opposition leaders on June 24, 
A/S Frazer and Charge urged the opposition parties to work 
together and focus on those fundamental issues included in 
the expert recommendations (reftel).  Despite these 
suggestions, the opposition parties chose to negotiate 
separately with the EPRDF, rather than together.  The CUDP, 
together with the EPRDF and its allied parties, held talks 
from June 19-21, and the UEDF and OFDM followed on June 22, 
23 and 26. 
 
5. (SBU) Following each party's round of talks, the two 
negotiating groups reported differing degrees of satisfaction 
on progress.  The CUDP concluded their discussions with a 
formal agreement and a joint press conference with the EPRDF 
on points on which they agreed.  In a later meeting with 
Poloff, CUDP party leader Temesgen Zewdie stated that, &it 
would be wrong to say we got everything we wanted, but we 
made some gains.8  This contrasts with the UEDF/OFDM round 
of talks, which finished without an agreement.  However, not 
only were the UEDF/OFDM more inflexible in pushing for the 
key issues proposed by the experts, but they also chose to 
use the talks as a forum for proposing 92 separate points of 
their own, beyond those recommendations of the international 
experts.  In the end, the UEDF/OFDM insisted on four key 
issues which were not met: 1) that the quorum to advance an 
agenda be reduced to 25 percent of the HPR (the percentage of 
seats occupied by the opposition); 2) that restrictions on 
their ability to visit their constituents be lifted (reftel); 
3) that the power of the Speaker of the House be reduced; and 
4) that the opposition have more input on HPR budget and 
financial matters.  Despite the disagreement, local media 
reported that the UEDF/OFDM and EPRDF had reached consensus, 
which Beyene claimed was EPRDF "propaganda" intended to 
discredit the UEDF/OFDM before their constituents.  Indeed 
when the reform bill was presented to parliament for 
ratification on July 5, the result was 264 votes 'for,' five 
'opposed,' and 79 abstentions.  From the opposition parties, 
most of the CUDP (including the leadership) voted in favor of 
the bill, while the UEDF and OFDM abstained. 
 
 
ADDIS ABAB 00002032  003 OF 004 
 
 
------------------------------- 
THE RESULT: A  GOOD FIRST STEP, 
------------------------------- 
 
6. (U) Following the approval of the parliamentary reform and 
code of conduct changes, Poloff met with Secretary of the 
Parliament Tesfaye Abera to confirm which international 
expert recommendations had been implemented.  In reference to 
the international experts, list of recommendations above: 
 
a. Though the 'Coordinating Committee' was kept, an 
additional Consultative Committee was created that will 
oversee the agenda setting.  Though the total number of 
parliamentarians in the committee was not outlined, the bill 
did specify that the opposition should participate in 
proportion to their representation in parliament. 
 
b. The administration and budget of the parliament will be 
handled by the Consultative Committee. 
 
c. Nothing was specified regarding the creation of Assistant 
Deputy Speaker positions, which is inconsistent with the 
constitution. 
 
d. A new 'Accounts Committee' was created, which will be 
chaired by an opposition party, with the mandate to oversee 
GoE expenditures.  Additionally, the number of members in all 
committees was increased from 12 to 20.  Nothing was 
specified in the bill about opposition members occupying 
chair or deputy chair positions in existing committees. 
 
e. Despite the increase in committee members, nothing was 
specified in the bill regarding minority parties' 
participation. 
 
f. The opposition will have one hour per month to forward 
topics for discussion in parliament, rather than the proposed 
one afternoon every two weeks. 
 
g. The requirement for the forwarding of an agenda to the 
house floor has been reduced from 51 percent of votes to 33 
percent.  Individuals can forward an agenda through the 
Consultative Committee referred to in point 'a', but at least 
one-third of this committee must agree on the topic. 
 
h. Nothing was specified in the bill regarding debate on the 
GoE,s plans for an upcoming year. 
 
i. A weekly question and answer session in which 
parliamentarians can address all GoE ministers was 
established.  Questions must be submitted in advance and in 
writing to the Speaker.  The opposition may question the 
ministers. 
 
j. Nothing was specified in the bill regarding discussion 
time for budget in plenary. 
 
k. Nothing was specified in the bill regarding 
parliamentarians declaration in public document of relevant 
financial interests 
 
7. (SBU) Secretary Tesfaye stressed to Poloff that this is 
only the &first step8 in parliamentary procedural reform; 
many years were needed to reach the level of development in 
the parliaments from which the experts had come.  He felt 
that this was a significant improvement and that, over time, 
the parliament would reach all of the recommendations, but 
that &it cannot be done all at once.8 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
COMMENT: NEGOTIATION A GOOD SIGN, BUT GOE COULD DO MORE 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
8. (SBU) The four parliaments that were reviewed all have 
different features.  The Ethiopian HPR now meets all 
standards that are reflected in the four parliaments and all 
major recommendations of the experts.  The GoE reached out to 
opposition parties in order to hammer out differences before 
a proposal reached the house floor.  Some in the opposition 
grumbled that these negotiations, which were widely 
publicized in the local press, were simply an image ploy by 
the EPRDF.  However, with three-quarters of the seats in 
parliament, the EPRDF and affiliated parties were not 
 
ADDIS ABAB 00002032  004 OF 004 
 
 
required to negotiate in order to pass a bill of their 
choice.  It was less encouraging that, despite Post's 
repeated urging that opposition parties take advantage of 
this negotiation opportunity and work together to present a 
unified and cohesive front, the UEDF and OFDM chose to not 
coordinate with the CUDP.  Furthermore, the UEDF and the OFDM 
chose to pursue an  all or nothing, strategy towards the 
negotiations, rather than recognizing, as the CUDP did, that 
it is the first, but certainly not the last, time that the 
procedures will be discussed by parliamentary groups. 
Regarding the reforms that were passed, the GoE might have 
gone further, particularly on those points that sought to 
bolster minority party inclusion.  The ruling EPRDF did 
provide more space for opposition parties to operate, thereby 
easing some of the current political tensions. However, as 
noted, more could have been accomplished and might have been 
had the opposition been more skillful and the EPRDF more 
flexible. 
HUDDLESTON