Merera Gudina

Merera Gudina (born July 5, 1956) is an Ethiopian professor and a politician. He is the leader of the Oromo People's Congress (OPC), a political party representing the Oromo people. The organization is opposed to the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front. His party struggles for equality and fairness for all Ethiopian. He has been described as Ethiopia's "leading opposition politician".[1]

Merera Gudina መረራ ጉዲና
Born	(1956-07-05) July 5, 1956 Ambo, Ethiopia
Nationality	Ethiopian
Alma mater	Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam (PhD) American University in Cairo (BA) Addis Ababa University
Occupation	Political science professor Politician
Political party	Medrek Oromo People's Congress

Personal life

Merera began his college education at Addis Ababa University (AAU), but was imprisoned for seven years due to participating in protests against the dictatorship of Mengistu Haile Mariam. After his release, Merera went to Egypt to complete his education at the American University in Cairo.[2] Merera received his PhD in Political Science July 2002 from the Institute of Social Studies, at the Hague in the Netherlands under the direction of professors M.R. Doornbos and M.A.R.M. Salih, he completed his thesis, "Ethiopia: competing ethnic nationalisms and the quest for democracy, 1960-2000".[3] As of 2009, Merera is an associate professor of political science at AAU. He participates in several scholarly conferences worldwide, including in the United States, concerning political and social developments of Ethiopia.

Political career

Merera founded the Oromo National Congress (ONC) in 1996, which became the largest Oromo opposition group by parliament seats after the 2005 national elections. His OFC had allied with several other parties to form the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces. Due to a court decision in 2007 which awarded the name of the ONC to a splinter group, the original ONC assumed a new name, the Oromo people's Congress.[2]

Merera believes in the self-determination of Oromo people and self-rule under Ethiopia umbrella. His party also wants to make Afan Oromo the co-official language of Ethiopia to empower Oromo people politically, socially and economically.[2] Regarding Oromia secession, he opposes the idea based on mutual strategic and national interest of Oromo and other peoples. Merera has also said Oromo people have historically participated in the creation of Modern Ethiopia, including the monarchy.[4] During a parliament discussion with the ruling party, Merera made the observation, "Oromia is the stem of Ethiopia; a stem can not secede, only branches can fall off the stem."

OFC was also reported to have made an alliance with another Oromo opposition party named OFDM to form Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC).

As of January 2010, Merera is the co-chairman of the OPC and the chairman of Medrek.

Merera was detained at the Adis Ababa airport in Ethiopia upon his return from Europe in December 2016. The Ethiopian government cites charges of links to "terrorist" and "anti-peace" protests groups.[5] On 3 March 2017, Ethiopian prosecutors formally charged Merera of supporting terrorism, in which he denied.[6]

He was put in prison in 2015. He was released from the Kaliti Prison in January 2018.[7]

References

1. "Ethiopia enters its seventh month of emergency rule". The Economist. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
2. Uduak Amimo, " Profile: Ethiopia's Merera Gudina", BBC website, 18 May 2010 (accessed 4 June 2010)
3. "100 Doctoral Theses at ISS", p. 34
4. The Ethiopian State and the Future of the Oromos: The Struggle for "Self-Rule and Shared-Rule" Archived 2010-08-11 at the Wayback Machine
5. "Ethiopia's Merera Gudina detained after trip to Europe".
6. "Ethiopian opposition leader pleads not guilty to incitement charges". Yahoo News.
7. https://www.opride.com/2018/01/18/merera-gudina-welcomes-national-dialogue-says-ball-eprdfs-court/