The premiership of Meles Zenawi began in August 1995 following the 1995 Ethiopian general election and ended upon his death on 20 August 2012. Whilst serving as Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi concurrently served as the Leader of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).
First term (1995-2000) Economic restructuring Following the Ethiopian Civil War, 1983-1985 famine, and the Marxist policies of the prior governments (Derg and the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia) the Ethiopian economy was in shambles. Privatisation of government companies, end of communal farms, land law reforms, and foreign investment laws were all implemented.
Ethnic federalism The Meles government created an ethnic-based federalism, which came under attack by some Ethiopians. Meles' TPLF party believed that there was no choice—this was the only solution to the centuries-old oppression by centralist governments, and to domination of culture, language, politics and economy by one ethnic group, namely the Amhara. On the other hand, some parties like the OLF (Oromo Liberation Front), which was a partner in drafting the constitution, see Amhara and Tigrayan domination of the country. The aim of the government policy was to empower all ethnicities and develop their cultures and languages. Also it was widely seen as a solution to the demand of governance preferred by the ethnic-based liberation fronts and parties participating in the July Convention of Nationalities in 1991. In response to critics who say ethnic federalism can bring divisions, Meles said that this policy served many interests, including equitable distribution of wealth and empowerment of ethnicities. He said the "ethnic basis of Ethiopia's democracy stemmed from the government's fight against poverty and the need for an equitable distribution of the nation's wealth: peasants must be enabled to make their own decisions in terms of their own culture. Power must be devolved to them in ways that they understand, and they understand ethnicity.... Other approaches to development had been hegemonic and exploitative and had led to internecine strife and civil war."
Meles claimed that there are two basic views about ethnic federalism: "if you think it is a threat, it will be; if you think it a benefit, then it will be." Making this statement, he concluded that "ethnicity will become less an issue as the economy grows and Ethiopia's process of assimilation does its job."
Meles Zenawi's government introduced a diverse but controversial policy of decentralization of the language system in Ethiopia. Most Ethiopians are taught using their mother tongue in primary schools and they are encouraged to develop their own languages. Some critics have said that this policy harms the unity and national identity of the country, while others have supported and praised the policy. Currently, many regional states have their own official state language. For instance, Afaan Oromo is the official language of the Oromia regional state but Amharic is still the official working language in the State of Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples.
Freedom of religion Although Muslims and Orthodox Christians lived together in Ethiopia for many centuries, complete religious freedom was formalized only in 1991. Many of the pre-existing issues – dominance of the state religion to 1974, seizure of the church properties by the Mengistu regime, 1974–91, state-sponsored persecution of non-Orthodox Christians, second-class citizenship accorded to Ethiopian Muslims, landownership problems and similar issues for non-Orthodox believers – have subsided for the most part. There are currently between 12 and 15 million Protestant Christians, as well as other new non-Orthodox Christians. Clashes have been very rare with the domination of the Orthodox. Most analysts say that since such equality and full religious freedom didn't exist before, the infrequent clashes might occur until the culture of tolerance grows between all old and new religions and denominations.
Multi-party system Meles became the first Ethiopian leader to develop a multi-party system, including an opposition party, in the Ethiopian parliament.
Private Press While previously most of the media were politically oriented, following the government crackdowns on media after 2005 election the number of political media is going down while entertainment and business media are on the rise. On the other hand, for what is believed to be the first time in Ethiopia's history, the government granted private commercial FM radio licenses, to two domestic pro-government operators. As of 2009, there are over 56 radio stations in the country that are owned and operated by regional governments, community organisations, and private companies. The government has issued licenses for seven regional states' television transmissions agencies, but there are still no private broadcasters in the country.
Equity and growth Throughout its operation, the government and the Prime Minister have advocated "pro-poor" domestic policies. According to World Bank's East African leadership, the Ethiopian government ranks number one in Africa on spending as a share of GDP going to pro-poor sectors.
The administration has also created self-governing regional development organizations like Amhara Development Association, Tigray Development Association, Oromia Development Association and many others.
Even though Meles' administration inherited one of the worst economies in the world, the country's economy grew steadily after he took office. During the last seven years, Ethiopia's GDP has shown a rate of growth of about 9 percent a year. The country was also in the top category for “policies of social inclusion and equity,” in the domain of “economic management,” and Ethiopia did exceptionally well in the domain of “structural policies” and “public sector management and institutions." Gross primary enrollment rates, a standard indicator of investment in the poor, went up to 93 percent in 2004 from 72 percent in 1990, contributing to a rise in literacy rates from 50 percent in 1997 to 65 percent in 2002. Still some opposition parties in the Ethiopian parliament doubted the economic growth. During the House's 31st regular session where the parliament reserved its monthly "Opposition Day," some opposition MPs condemned the ruling party, pointing to double-digit inflation as a sign of the government's economic failures. The African Development Bank and the Paris-based OECD Development Center stated that Ethiopia has become one of the fastest growing countries in Africa.
Foreign policies Despite working together against the Derg regime, Meles and Afewerki's positive relationship turned sour after Meles succumbed to U.S. pressure to hold an election within a year, but Afewerki abandoned his original promise to create a transitional government in the early 1990s. The Eritrean-Ethiopian War began in May 1998. After the Ethiopian breach of the western front and subsequent capture of parts of western Eritrea, Ethiopian President Negaso Gidada gave a victory speech and a peace treaty was signed a few weeks later. According to the peace treaty Ethiopia then pulled out. Though Ethiopian troops controlled Badme, after an international court ruled that Badme belonged to Eritrea, Ethiopia continued to maintain a presence of Ethiopian soldiers in the town.
Second term (2000-2005) In the 2000 general elections, Meles was reelected Prime Minister, and his ruling EPRDF party shared parliament seats with the opposition party United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF). According to observers organized by Ethiopian Human Rights Council, local U.N. staff, diplomatic missions, political parties, and domestic non-governmental organizations, both the general and the regional elections that year were generally free and fair in most areas; however, serious election irregularities occurred in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region (SNNPR), particularly in the Hadiya Zone."Ethiopia: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices", Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, US State Department . Retrieved 9 July 2009.
School expansion Since the 1990s Ethiopia has experienced more increase of schools and colleges despite still not covering all regions. Millions of Ethiopian birr (ETB) continue to be spent on building educational institutions and many new schools have been constructed since Meles Zenawi took office. However, the government's focus on the agricultural sector has slowed the growth of jobs in the urban areas of Ethiopia, which is reflected in the anger of the urban population and its students as well as the landslide victory of opposition parties in these areas during the recent national election. Statistics showed that in 1991 only 27 percent of Ethiopian children attended school, but in 2004 gross enrollment rate was up to 77 percent and it reached 85 percent in November 2006.
, there were 13,500 elementary schools and 550 secondary schools. A majority of them are newly constructed and the secondary schools are connected by satellite in a new programme called School-Net.Educational improvements
More colleges and Universities have been constructed and/or expanded during the last few years than in whole history of Ethiopia. These colleges and Universities include Adama University (Oromia), an expansion of Nazreth technical college, Jimma University (started earlier), Mekelle University newly built under Meles, Debub University, an expansion of Awassa college, Bahir Dar (Amhara state) University, an expansion of a polytechnic college and teacher's college, and others. Also most of the older colleges have added various new departments, including faculties of law, business, etc. Other new growing colleges include Jijiga (Somali state) University, institutions in Debre Markos, Semera (Afar), Aksum, Tepi, Nekemte (Oromia), Kombolcha (Amhara State), Dire Dawa and in Debre Birhan. Wollega University in the Oromia state is the most recently finished university in Ethiopia with various modern facilities, with 20 new fields of studyWollega University expanding and the new Wolaita Soddo University started taking in students in February 2007.New university and facilities Woliata Soddo U Including the new Axum University, 12 new universities are starting operation in 200712 new universities in 2007 Other fairly new universities like Dilla University in the Gedeo Zone SNNP region launched new facilities, expanded laboratories for research, and initiated new post-graduate studies.new University research project
In the last decade, more than 30 new private colleges & universities have been created, including Unity College. The University Capacity Building Program (UCBP) is a leading project in this sector.
Land and agriculture Ethiopian agriculture is predominantly rain-fed subsistence agriculture, troubled by recurrent droughts. After Meles came to power in 1991, there were three major droughts in 1999/2000, 2002/2003 and 2009/2010.