We, members of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), approach the coming district and national elections animated by the prospect of democratization that the political gains and victories that the Oromo people have made possible. We are looking forward to the elections with hope that the long and arduous Oromo national struggle will produce tangible results for our nation: Hopeful times, thanks to the Oromo national struggle and our martyrs.

Twenty-five years ago, the fall of a military dictatorship granted us an opportunity to resolve our country’s longstanding problems of economic justice and the equality of the county’s nations and nationalities. We crafted a constitution which promised to protect the democratic, civil and equality rights and the right of nations to self-rule as autonomous federal units. Unfortunately, the promise was immediately dashed as the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Forces (EPRDF)-led government betrayed its fidelity to the constitution and the federal arrangement, and concentrated political and economic power in the hands of a select few.