Addis Ababa, 21 November 2015(WIC) – In the struggle that the government has embarked against rent seeking and corruption, any form of defeat is just like betraying what the party and people owe to the martyrs, the Prime Minister said.
Speaking on the celebration of the 35th anniversary of the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM) held at Bahirdar football stadium today, Hailemariam Desalegn, said all sister parties should draw important lessons for the struggle against narrowism, chauvinism, religious fundamentalism, rent seeking and corruption has to be successful.
Executives at all levels of the leadership ladder should tighten their belt and wage relentless fight against rent seeking and corruption and make the dreams of martyrs a reality.
“Replacing the rent seeking political economy with that of developmental political economy is a struggle no less than the one waged against the military regime. If we get defeat in this struggle it is like betraying what we owe to the hero martyrs who paid their lives for our freedom,” Hailemariam remarked.
The premier reminded ANDM’s zeal to withstand the challenges it faced during the 1977 E.C famine and urged the party and the people to stand together and prevent the present drought from reaching the level of famine and protect the people and animals from any possible damage.
ANDM’s public base and commitment for purpose has been an important backing for the journey towards renaissance and the anniversary is a pivotal moment to recognize the party’s role both during the struggle and post victory development, he noted.
Hailemariam further noted that ANDM and TPLF collaborated based on their common goals of freeing the public at large and later played a key role in creating EPRDF together with SPDM and OPDO.
The Prime Minister Visited the Guna Mountain area, where bitter armed struggle was made against the military regime, and thanked people living in the area for their commitment to face all challenges and back freedom fighters.
The event was marked by handing over of awards to founding members, families of martyrs, sister and backing parties. The 35th ANDM anniversary is being celebrated with the theme, “ANDM shall ensure the journey toward renaissance via maintaining its public base and commitment”.