Opposition parties in Ethiopia including Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and Oromo Nationalist Party (ONP) have formed a coalition ahead of May’s national elections with the primary objective of denying the present regime headed by prime minister Aby Ahmed another chance to govern the country.
Coming close on the heels of prominent activist Mohammed Jawar joining the opposition camp, the present bonhomie among the opposition parties is significant. More than anything else, they hope that their combined votes can unseat Abiy Ahmed, who seems to be well settled in his seat, driven by his charisma and forward -looking decisions. There were talks about Jawar joining at the opposition camp earlier also. That got confirmed when he shared a photograph of the leaders of the three parties seated at one table. Jawar is hugely popular among the youth in Oromo. Of late, he has been giving subtle hints about the evolving relationship with opposition parties in his interviews with media.
There is an animated suspension as to how the pollical wheel would turn for the forthcoming May general elections. Political analysts predict that the combined effort of three political parties and their top leadership-the OFC is led by Professor Merera Gudina, OLF led by Dawud Ibsa and General Kemal Gelchu at the top at ONP and supported by prominent personalities like Jawar and Bekele Gerba, the loosely knit coalition could be a force to reckon with. Can this upset the applecart and dethrone the charismatic leadership of young Abiy Ahmed is something, which cannot be predicted now, especially when the ruling party is working hard in rebranding and restructuring their base and is trying hard to cobble up political affiliations with other parties and splinter groups.
