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Keep on Fine-tuning Our Federal System
Amen Teferi
When the Defense Minister, Siraj Fegesa, appeared on the extraordinary session of the federal parliament that discussed and revoked the State of Emergency law we have learnt that there is a need to refine the working relationships of the federal and regional security apparatuses. It is true that in the last two decades there appears to be an emerging a consensus that given the existing diversity and sad legacy of concentrated power, the best way to “hold Ethiopia together” is adopting one of the variants of federalism. For Ethiopia, this is no more a choice from available alternatives, but something that is destined for the country to be. Federalism is in fact a matter of necessity that would address a long overdue in our nation building effort.
The constitutional arrangement, which has officially taken the form of a federal structure since 1995, tries to address the concern of the various ethno-linguistic and religious groups. This thesis deals with several interrelated sub-issues but the main question addressed is: how best to accommodate the various ethno-linguistic groups in Ethiopia and how has the existing federal system fared in this regard? A related matter is: how best to divide power- mainly legislative, executive and judiciary between the federal and state governments?
In order to address this question we need to address a number of other issues as well. The questions regards are: What are the historical antecedents of federalism in Ethiopia and how do they contribute to an analysis of the present situation? Is it useful to take the nation-state federations such as the United States and Germany as a model for the multicultural reality in Ethiopia? What lessons can be drawn from other multicultural federations? This in turn entails an investigation not only of whether the federal system as it exists is optimal but also its limitations in practice.
Furthermore, we may ask: How are the legislative and executive powers between the federal and state governments divided and what does this indicate on the centralization trend that was prevalent in the last decade? Is the centralization tendency something that emanates from the constitution or is it something that evolved from the political practice?
Some scholars argued that although the Ethiopian federal system shares some common characteristics with other federations, for a careful observer, it is evident that it is not carefully crafted to ensure a proper balance that should exist between self-rule and shared rule. Of particular concern is whether the federal system provides sufficient means for guaranteeing shared functions to the constituent units?
In this regard what is the role of second chambers in legitimating federal government and the process of policy-making? A related matter is whether the federal system is entrenched with relevant institutions for enforcing federal laws and policies throughout the territory of the country?
The federal system in Ethiopia was introduced in the aftermath of the collapse of a very centralized state structure. Thus when there are a few indigenous precedents to be draw from, it would be unwise to ignore relevant federal experiences of other countries. One notable writer had said: “The reception of foreign legal institutions is not a matter of nationality, but of usefulness and need. No one bothers to fetch a thing from afar when he has one as good or better at home, but only a fool would refuse quinine just because it did not grow in his back garden.” This statement reminds us the need to learn from our experiences and the practices of others.
Scholars in the field claim that there are several contentious, ambiguous issues on which the Ethiopian Constitution remains silent. For example on the issue of whether constituent states boundaries in multicultural federal systems should be drawn in a manner to coincide with the nationalities.
Therefore, the scholars assert that in the area of intergovernmental relations in general and enforcement of federal laws in particular, not only is there a conceptual and institutional gap in the Ethiopian federal design but there is also a rather haphazard experience that needs careful study.
For these and other reasons we should venture to study at some length how other federal systems have dealt with the matter and come up with short and long-term alternatives. Thus we will be able to understand the federal system better and we will gain many insights to consider in case one is interested in a reform agenda.
In this regards, comparative study of the federal arrangements may help fill such gaps. It is interesting that the new laws proclaimed in Ethiopia to define the powers and responsibilities of the HoF and the Council of Constitutional Inquiry (CCI) have granted extensive discretion to these organs to develop general principles of constitutional interpretation.
Furthermore, while recognizing very well the importance of the local context in the Ethiopian situation, one cannot help but refer to federal systems elsewhere because the Constitution itself has incorporated many ideas from other constitutional systems. One may refer among other things to the comprehensive regime of human rights, the new laws that define the powers of the HoF and the CCI, the techniques of dividing power between the federal and state governments.
Even the idea of drawing the constituent states to correspond with the geographic location of some of the nationalities, otherwise popularly known as the “question of nationalities,” is not only leftist in orientation but is also not without parallels elsewhere. Similarly, the Ethiopian federal system will be of relevance to many other multicultural societies.
For instance, the Nigeria is to some degree impressed by the federal dispensation in Ethiopia. Nigeria’s federal system is by design meant not to correspond with the settlement patterns of the major ethnic groups. It simply subscribed to the American style of territorial federal system, a system that has little relevance as far as accommodation of diversity is concerned. The existing situation requires us to look into our experience in the past and come up with relevant fine-tuning solution that would satisfactorily address the various practical problems we are facing.
