5 - Parliament-Public Engagement in Ethiopia: A Weak Link in Democratic Transformation

Summary

Introduction

In a democracy, parliaments are important institutions with three key functions – making laws, exercising oversight over the executive, and serving as representatives of the people (Johnson 2005). The extent to which parliaments effectively perform these functions has a bearing on the institutionalization of democracy and good governance in a particular country. Throughout much of Africa, there is the dearth of effective and strong parliaments that can be pillars of democracy and representational rule (UNECA n.d.).This is a major democratic deficit that has resulted in the perpetuation of authoritarian regimes, and has held back opportunities for multi-party politics and accountable governance in many parts of the continent, including among member states of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

Strong parliamentary institutions that represent wide cross-sections of the population can empower citizens to have a say in how they are governed through their legitimately elected representatives. Given the diversity of African Nations, there is a need for a broad-based and all-inclusive parliamentary representation to mitigate political instability and avoid alienating significant segments of the population. When people gain political representation, they develop a sense of belongingness and will have a stake in the system. This in turn reduces the proclivity to subvert the system, because there is some degree of satisfaction with the status quo (UNECA n.d.; Veit et al. 2008; Power 2012). The attempts by African states to institutionalize democracy and stable governance can therefore bear fruit through the instrumentality of strong parliaments that represent the interests and concerns of the broad sections of the citizenry.

Parliament and public engagement with it are important aspects of the democratic process that can help attain three important goals, viz. strengthening the representational role of parliament, availing opportunities for the electorate to provide inputs that can influence public policy, and making it imperative for elected officials to consult regularly with their constituencies. All these are important yardsticks of accountable and responsive governance that allow for public needs and concerns of diverse constituencies to be considered in the law/public policy-making process. Effective parliament-constituency interactions deliver good governance and promote accountability, which are instrumental in effective poverty reduction for a country (Merilee 2007; Aribisala n.d.).