| | With the collapse of the military regime which ruled the country between 1974 and 1991, Ethiopia entered a season of political ferment. The collapse signalled the defeat of forces that had dominated Ethiopia throughout this century, and made possible the political self-assertion of subordinate and minority groups. Whether the end result of this process will be a fundamental and historic change in the political life of this country is as yet uncertain. In the meantime, many political organisations have emerged to represent long suppressed population groups, and they are claiming a share of power in a proposed decentralised state structure whose constituent units are ethnically defined. Among them are more than a dozen organisations claiming to represent the Somali people of Ethiopia. |
