Federalism, Decentralisation and Popular Participation 157. The CRM finds it useful to situate the extent and effectiveness of federalism, decentralisation, and popular participation in Ethiopia in the philosophical foundation of federalism. Since Ethiopia lived through a long-drawn out struggle of a coalition of ethnic-based liberation movements against the centralising imperial, and later, Derg regimes, the country’s brand of federalism is rooted in historical experience. 158. In Ethiopia, the federating units are Nations, Nationalities and Peoples, each of them granted “an unconditional right to self-determination, including the right to secession,” as well as “a right to a full measure of self-government, which includes the right to establish institutions of government in the territory that it inhabits and to equitable representation in state and Federal governments.” This conception of federalism has been strategically directed to engineer and promote the decentralisation of powers and functions from the regional state to lower levels of government - denominated zones and districts (weredas) and neighbourhoods (kabeles). The objective is to ensure popular participation in governmental processes at these lower levels. This form of democratisation is engineered to create policy synergies and bottom-up feedback between these lower levels, the state, and federal government. 159. The challenge of federalism in Ethiopia, therefore, is to strengthen and sustain its strategic design to support the management of democratic and economic governance, and socio-economic development. The CRM’s consultations reveal the political will and commitment to this grassroots-oriented, participatory conception and use of decentralised federalism to engender and strengthen functional inter-governmental cooperation. Details of the constitutional structure of the Ethiopian federal system of government (federal, regional state, autonomous administrative district/city, wereda, kabele) are outlined in Objective 4 below. 160. The CRM finds it noteworthy and exemplary that the regional states of Oromia, Afar, Somali, Harari, and the chartered city of Dire Dawa, have institutionalised inter-governmental cooperation in the form of regular quarterly-monthly meetings. This is where common problems are discussed to find solutions. The CRM notes the special constitutional and political status of Addis Ababa, both as the capital of the Federal State, and as the capital of the State of Oromia. The dual status of Addis Ababa is in line with the practice in a number of federations, like Malaysia and post-1962 Pakistan, where federal capitals were not separated from their home states or provinces. Article 49(5) stipulates that “the special interest of the State of Oromia in Addis Ababa, regarding the provision of social services or the utilisation of natural resources and other similar matters, as well as joint - 87 -