Oromo Opposition leader Bulcha Demeksa said most Oromos do not want secession from Ethiopia and his party has declared its opposition to the corresponding Article 39 of the current government's constitution. He told Voice of America (VOA) that his OFDM party, various Oromo and other Ethiopian opposition groups inside the new FDD coalition have put this policy as one of their several uniting causes.Bulcha added that Article 39 was enforced into the constitution by Meles Zenawi’s TPLF in the early 1990s without the wish of Oromo people and the political groups active during the transition period. He said Oromo people want democracy, equality and self-governance.
Bulcha said Oromo people see the secession ideology as being detrimental as it fuels more conflicts and as being impractical for Oromo people which he symbolized as being the “stem” of Ethiopia, since they are the majority in population with the most economic resources.
Bulcha said, while Oromo opposition parties are closing gaps with other opposition leaders inside FDD, his OFDM party still supports regional autonomy and ethnic federalism. His FDD-Medrek opposition organization has been the target of increasing government harassment in recent months.
The OFDM chairman and economist Bulcha has previously suggested that the OLF organization might have also dropped its secession ideology. Unlike OLF, the Eritrea-armed ONLF rebels in the Ogaden region reportedly seek secession from Ethiopia to establish "Greater Somalia."
The battle between the ONLF and the government has led to massive humanitarian crisis in all corners of the Ogaden region, comparable to the Darfur crisis, with western human rights groups blaming the Meles administration for war crimes and alleged human rights abuses.
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