On Stability and Continuity

G. E. Gorfu (Sept. 1, 2006)

Some three years ago I wrote a series of articles on the meaning of democracy titled: “Constitutional Checks and Balances” where I examined and compared various democratic models in the world and showed how among many benefits of this political system the most important benefit was stability. Those articles also stressed that unless political stability was achieved in Ethiopia it was like planting and uprooting a tree every few years, and then wondering why its growth is stunted, or why it has failed to produce fruits. In fact, I had concluded it is a miracle that the tree is even still alive.

There is a very important guideline in engineering that if a certain gadget or tool exists out there, it would be a waste of resources to try and remanufacture it. You are better off to buy it. That means one should always take advantage of the experience of others. In our own tradition too, there is a saying: “?????? ??? ??????? …” which tells us that we should always try to learn from the experiences of others.

That said let us examine how some democratic nations in the world have moved from dictatorship or an Imperial form of government, to democracy. We will start by looking at Britain and its history in the era of Oliver Cromwell. To put it briefly, after years of wrangling over various religious and secular issues between the king and parliament, in 1645 Oliver Cromwell, heading an army of “parliamentary forces” defeated King Charles I. The king, however, escaped, but was later captured, tried, and executed in 1649.

Soon after that, his son, Charles II, returns from France, lands in Scotland, gathers some forces and invades England in1651with the hope of avenging his father and reclaiming the throne. But he is defeated and flees back to France. The British Parliament though known as a “rump parliament”, was still functional until Cromwell dissolved it and made himself The Lord Protector in 1653, becoming the sole ruler until his death in 1658.

His son, Richard Cromwell succeeded him as Lord Chancellor, but he was not as capable a leader as his father. He could not hold on to power. The parliamentary army forced him to resign only one-year later, restoring parliament in1659.

All this serves us as background. The most important event was yet to come. The restored parliament soon realized it needed a stabilizing factor in order to function properly, and prevent another leader of the parliamentary army from dissolving it, and becoming a dictator, naming himself Lord Chancellor, even as Oliver Cromwell had done.

The parliament invited Charles II back from exile in France to restore him to the throne in 1660, on the condition that as King he shall wear The Crown and Reign, only performing ceremonial duties, and abiding by the terms strictly defined by parliament. The Crown shall stay out of all political issues of the nation. That shall be the exclusive domain of parliament. And so the most important foundation stone was placed in the history of Britain, which has made stability and continuity in the nation possible to this day.

To be continued…