ADDIS ABABA — Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is actively promoting the national dialogue process as a critical opportunity for Ethiopia, urging citizens to engage fully to resolve the nation’s longstanding issues through constructive conversation. His remarks were shared in a recent post on his Facebook page, reflecting on Ethiopia’s historical challenges and the unexplored potential of dialogue.

According to Ethiopian News Agency, past reliance on war and uprisings has not yielded lasting solutions, as these methods only produce temporary winners and losers. He emphasized that dialogue presents a chance for all parties to emerge as winners, contributing positively to the nation’s future. He outlined the dialogue’s benefits: solving major problems, promoting a culture of dialogue over conflict, and fostering rapprochement among divided groups, which could facilitate ongoing engagement on national issues.

The national dialogue, now entering its third phase under Proclamation No. 1265/2014, is structured into several stages: pre-preparation, preparation, consultative process, implementation, and monitoring. The consultative phase began last Wednesday with an agenda-setting process in Addis Ababa, where representatives from various community groups discussed and set the agenda for upcoming city-level consultations. These representatives, numbering 121, will present their communities’ agendas during the national discussions.

The dialogue process is set to extend to the regional states next, as outlined by the Ethiopian National Dialogue Commission. This approach aims to build a comprehensive national consensus on fundamental issues affecting the country.