Below is an excerpt from an opinion article published this week by The New York Times reviewing PM Abiy Ahmed's Nobel Peace Prize. The piece titled "Abiy Ahmed Won the Nobel Peace Prize. Now He Needs to Earn It," is very reflective and fair but we would only argue that Abiy has more than earned the peace prize with what he accomplished when he took over and stopped the massive uprising from becoming an ethnocentric nightmare. The title could have been - "Abiy Ahmed Won the Nobel Peace Prize. Now He Needs to Keep It!" By moving forward with the single most difficulty - addressing ethnic federalism (something we saw come into existence in our generation and utterly dangerous). Abiy didn't create these issues and it's up to the entire nation to help see his vision of multicultural co-existence come true. Abiy embodies it. It's time we all should. (Getty Images)
Some honors come too late; others too early. Others still risk scuttling the efforts they are rewarding.
Last week Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for, the Nobel committee said, “his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea” and starting “important reforms that give many citizens hope for a better life and a brighter future.”
Since coming to power in April 2018, Mr. Abiy has taken Ethiopia on a political roller coaster. His administration started rapprochement with Eritrea after nearly two decades of stalemate — following a vicious war from 1998 to 2000 and a peace treaty — which some have called a state of “no war–no peace.” He has had tens of thousands of political prisoners released, has invited back banned political parties and armed groups, has apologized for human rights violations, has revoked repressive laws, has started to open up the economy and has appointed women to leading positions in government.
One could argue that not since Mikhail Gorbachev — another Nobel Peace Prize laureate — introduced glasnost to the Soviet Union in the mid-1980s has any country embarked on such radical reforms. But a lot more needs to happen before Mr. Abiy can deliver on his pledges, and for ordinary Ethiopians his efforts so far have been a white-knuckle ride.
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Related:
Why I Nominated Abiy Ahmed for the Nobel Peace Prize
PM Abiy Ahmed Wins Nobel Peace Prize
Abiy Ahmed’s Nobel Peace Prize is deserved, but he still has work to do (WaPo Editorial)
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