A Synopsis of the Programme of the UEDP-MEDHIN

Part one

1. Objective

1.1 To bring about a popular administrative system that:

     -Brings about peace and democracy throughout Ethiopia:

     -Guarantees human and democratic rights;

     -Safeguards the equality of the Ethiopian people and the sovereignty

      and territorial integrity of Ethiopia;

1.2 establishes an economic system based on a free market policy;

1.3 improves, through the will of the people, articles included in the present Constitution that are considered detrimental to the unity and development of the country.

 2. Mode of operation

 2.1 Our party believes strongly in a peaceful and evolutionary process of bringing about political   change. It condemns all manners of assumption of power through the use of force. Hence, it is dedicated to the belief that political power belongs to the people and that governments come to power only through free and fair elections.

2.2 Our party endeavors to give priority to safeguarding the will of the people and the national  interest at all times.

2.3 UEDP-MEDHIN works towards unity, ranging from collaboration to merger, with other parties  that  struggle for national unity.

 3. Formation of Government

 UEDP-MEDHIN believes that governments should be based on the following principles:

3.1 Creating a condition wherein political power emanates from the will of the people and is guided by the supremacy of the law.

 3.2 Instituting a multi-party system wherein political power is assumed through the direct participation of the people in free and fair elections.

3.3 Establishing a federal system based on historical and cultural ties, language and geographic characteristics, administrative suitability and potential for development. It opposes administrative divisions based on ethnicity and language.

3.4 Creating a system wherein the legislative, executive and judicial bodies of state function independent of each other and according to the Constitution.

3.4 Establishing a civil service system free from the pressure and influence of political forces.

 4. Human and Democratic Rights

UEDP-MEDHIN endorses all internationally accepted and ratified human and democratic rights and conventions that are in harmony with Ethiopia's national interests and acts towards their implementation.

 Part Two

5. Economic Policy

UEDP-MEDHIN is dedicated to:

5.1 implementing a development strategy geared to bringing about growth and economic  independence;

5.2 promoting private economy based on the free market system;

5.3 establishing an economic system where the state's role is fairly limited but where it plays an important role in formulating policies that contribute to economic stability, development of infrastructure and encouraging investment;

5.3  Pursuing an economic direction that provides employment, develops a culture of hard and  honest work and saving.

5.4  Pursuing an economic policy that helps the country to free itself from the present heavy dependence on agriculture and move gradually to modern industry.

5.5  The narrowing of the gap between the poor and the rich, the educated and the uneducated, and the urban and the rural life;

5.6  Promoting the private ownership of land;

5.7  Modernizing agriculture and increasing the productivity of the farmer by providing the necessary agricultural inputs;

5.8 Gradually transforming the life of the pastoralists to sedentary life voluntarily:

5.9 Resettling people, voluntarily, from environmentally degraded areas to life-sustaining parts of the country;

5.10  Encouraging a pattern of settlement, in the rural areas, that would make it more convenient  to provide infrastructure and social services;

5.11  Encouraging large and technology-intensive commercial farming in areas of the country that are not being exploited already;

5.12  Encouraging small, medium and large scale industries by providing adequate incentives to local and foreign investors;

5.13  Developing the country's tourism potential;

5.14  Encouraging Ethiopians who have taken citizenship of other countries to invest in Ethiopia with privileges enjoyed by Ethiopian investors;

5.15  Instituting a fair and effective tax system;

5.16 Implementing a legal system that protects the legitimate rights and benefits of labour and management;

5.17  Providing each citizen a free plot of land on which to build a home and creating a credit system that would help them to achieve this;

5.18  Instituting a policy of adequate and fair compensation for nationalized urban and/or rural property;

5.19  Creating a condition conducive for the protection, development and exploitation of underground resources through government or private initiatives;

5.20  Eradicating corruption;

5.21 Returning private, urban residential houses, financial institutions, production and distribution enterprises nationalized during the Derg regime to their legal owners in a manner that would take into consideration the plight of the parties that are making use of these properties at present;

5.22  Returning to their rightful owners all properties confiscated by the EPRDF during the period of its armed struggle;

5.23    Providing special assistance to backward and peripheral regions with a view to bringing about balanced development throughout the country;

Part Three

6. Social Services

6.1 Education

6.1.1 Promoting an educational system geared to development, problem solving.         meeting the needs of the people and enhancing the arts;

6.1.2 Encouraging the active participation of the people in developing and disseminating quality education;

6.1.3 Enabling institutions of higher learning to be independent centers of teaching, learning and research;

6.1.4 Encouraging the establishment of technical and vocational education and the dissemination of appropriate science and technology in order to improve general productivity;

 6.1.5 Promoting adult education;

Encouraging education through the voluntary use of the mother tongue at the elementary level;

6.1.6 Making every effort to encourage parents to send all their children to school. at least through the elementary level;

6.1.7 Doing everything possible to protect the rights and privileges of teachers. who are the bulwarks of the educational system, to help them to enhance their profession and guarantee their job security;

6.1.8 Enabling every citizen to enjoy at least secondary education freely;

6.1.9 Encouraging teachers, students and the society as a whole to be active participants in the management of educational institutions at various level;

 6.2 Health

6.2.1 Increasing the coverage and quality of health services at all levels;

6.2.2 Promoting a prevention-oriented health service;

6.2.3 Encouraging the private sector to participate in the provision of health services;

6.2.4Mobilizing the whole society to participate actively in the control of epidemics;

6.2.5 Increasing the nation's capacity to provide clean drinking water;

 6.3. Religion

6.3.1 Guaranteeing religious freedom and the equality of religions;

6.3.2 Adhering to the policy that church and state separate.

 6.4 Language              

6.4.1 Guaranteeing the equality and development of all national languages;

6.4.2 Promoting one or more of the national languages as common languages of administration;

6.4.3 Creating favorable conditions wherein the common languages would be taught as subjects in all school.

 6.5 Miscellaneous

  6.5.1 Promoting a fair system of social security;

  6.5.2 Fighting harmful traditional practices;

  6.5.3  Promoting a national policy that protects the natural environment;

  6.5.4 Formulating and implementing a gender-sensitive policy;

  6.5.5 Preserving historical, religious, cultural and other valuable relics ;

  6.5.6 Implementing a fair pension system;

  6.5.7 Instituting an advance warning and preparedness system against disasters;

  6.5.8 Bestowing honours and benefits upon those citizens who serve Ethiopia with distinction all fields of endeavour;

  6.5.9 Providing assistance to the physically and mentally handicapped and therefore unable to work;

  6.5.10  Providing education and training to those handicapped but able to work and to those commercial sex workers and street children so that they may be productive and  self-supporting;

  6.5.11  Provide, as much as possible, special attention and assistance to mothers, children and the aged;

  6.5.12 Encouraging Ethiopians in the Diaspora to return to their country and lead a  peaceful and productive life.