Africa-Press – Ethiopia. March 18/2021 (ENA) Egypt and Sudan are working to obstruct the second phase filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) by disrupting the peace and order in Ethiopia, political party leaders said.
They urged Ethiopians to stand together and vigilantly follow the matter.
Tigray Democratic Party Advisor, Gidey Zeratsion said the countries that have been trying to stop Ethiopia from building GERD are still working to stop the second phase filling of the dam.
He added that the countries are disrupting the country’s peace and security with the intention of disrupting the filling of the dam.
Gidey pointed out that the two countries are exerting efforts in many ways in order to instigate conflict and create instability in Ethiopia.
Thus, he noted that it is high time that Ethiopians joined hands and stood in unison by ensuring peace and security.
“As you can see, our enemies are attacking us from different directions. Hadn’t TPLF been destroyed fast unexpectedly, I think these forces had other big agenda. The main focus of Egypt and Sudan is the dam. And they want to obstruct the construction of the dam by destabilizing the country. TPLF had been working as their weapon and they will never hesitate to create conflict in another direction. Knowing this, we should prioritize our national interest and refrain from entering any conflict,” he elaborated.
Prosperity Party Senior leader, Yared Teshome said meeting the existing plan and maintaining the country’s sovereignty by filling the dam is critical.
He further called on all Ethiopians to discharge their responsibilities for the filling of dam.
Yared emphasized the need for making GERD a common agenda for which all stand in unison despite political differences as it is a common goal and success.
“GERD is about sovereignty and by far the largest project. Like the successful completion of the first phase filling, the public should therefore stand alongside the government regardless of political, ethnic and religious differences. As long as it is an Ethiopian affair, I believe that we need to accomplish it in unison,” he stated.
Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice Chairperson, Yeshiwas Assefa said on his part that Egypt and Sudan are using GERD for political consumption instead of responding to public grievances.
Both countries are attempting to use GERD as a tool that solves their internal crises, he added.
Yeshiwas urged the countries to refrain from meddling in the filling of the dam and instead deal with their domestic affairs.
Ethiopians must stand together without differences with regard to the filling of GERD, the chairperson stressed.
“Issues like election should not violate sovereignty. Sudanese, Egyptian or Ethiopian public have plenty of questions, including democracy, human rights and infrastructure. But each government has to address the questions and solve their problems. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, for instance, faces questions on a weekly basis and he wants to divert the attention of the public,” he pointed out.
Ethiopia has announced that it will fill the dam with 13.4 billion cubic meters of water this rainy season and test two of the turbines.
