JIGJIGA (SD) – Chairman of the opposition party ONLF Abdirahman Sheikh Mahdi Maadey, made a brief statement in a meeting held by opposition parties in the United States, he spoke about the situations in Somali regions and criticized the Somali regional government and the federal government of Ethiopia.

The chairman said that the changed that have taken place in Somali regional areas have not been fully utilized, in which he accused the Somali local government administration of being slower than expected, which was to do more in areas of security, governance and social unification as he mentioned.

“Relocate the rebels who have been fighting for a long time and compensate others who have suffered in the long-running conflict in the area” he said.

He also mentioned that they are not included in the federal hierarchy, saying “we are not respected, we have no share in federal offices at the highest nor the lowest level, except a few words that one or two people are shown” he also said “the government in our area is similar as well, and our say is limited”

The chairman also said that the federal government of Ethiopia does not recognize the Somali people as contributing citizens to the country, “the chairman continued to say “Ethiopia is divided in to three and we are the third party, but when it comes to resource, we should be in the first or second party, so they claim our land and tell us we are Ethiopia and they do give us the rights to it”

The chairman concluded with a message to Ethiopia saying “if you agree for all of us to live together peacefully, while we have our rights, we will share our resources and will agree, otherwise we will not”.

The speaker’s remarks come as opposition groups in the Somali region of Ethiopia hold a conference in the United States to discuss the general situation in the Somali region and Ethiopia.