Nation threatened by poverty, lack of democracy, gov't says

Ethiopia acknowledged on Saturday that the main threat to the nation comes in the shape of a lack of democracy, poor governance and entrenched poverty.

In a candid statement, the government spelt out the key strategies that the impoverished country should adopt under its new foreign and security policy.

“It is believed that the major threat to our security emanates from our poverty and backwardness,” said the statement issued by the information ministry.

The government believes Ethiopia must focus on its “internal condition” while ensuring that the primary goal of relations with other countries is to foster growth.

“The crucial factor that decides our relations with any nation is the element of its effect on our attempt to develop ourselves and to build a democratic system,” the ministry said.

“Our security can be ensured only when a democratic system becomes a reality, good governance prevails and development is accelerated,” the statement added.

“Hence the objective of our foreign and national security policy should be ensuring our security through the realisation of a democratic system, good governance and rapid sustainable development.”

The foreign and security policy sets out three policy areas that must be targeted if the country is to achieve its aims.

It states that the policy must protect the country’s very existence through economic development and democracy, protect the honour of Ethiopia by reducing its reliance on foreign aid, and tap the opportunities offered through globalisation.

Wide-ranging discussions on the policy – headed by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi – were televised by state media over three days last week.

One government official who was involved in strategising the new foreign policy told IRIN that the country stands on the “brink of an abyss”.

“Our enemy is poverty and we cannot afford to continue on this path,” the official added. “So the lynchpin for this policy must be economic development.”