20110107
reuters

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - When Meles Zenawi's rebels closed in on Addis Ababa in the early months of 1991, their biggest threat did not come from Mengistu Haile Mariam's army but from a potential breakup of Ethiopia.

The group was about to end centuries of Amhara domination over the country's 70 ethnic groups, but some feared Ethiopia's long marginalised regions might seek to cut loose, as Eritrea eventually did later.

Two decades on, Ethiopia remains one nation. Meles, now prime minister, says the country's "balkanisation" was only averted by an ethnicity-based federal system, although analysts say political authoritarianism and poverty still pose risks.

The model has drawn plaudits from Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir who hailed it as an "example" for Africa at a time his own country, plagued by civil wars since independence, may split after the south votes in a referendum on secession on Sunday.

In a continent where colonial powers arbitrarily drew frontiers indifferent to ethnic divisions, Meles said last month that Ethiopia only survived as a nation by granting autonomy to its provinces -- as well as the right to secede.

"The successful management of our diversity has become one of the pillars of the ongoing Ethiopian renaissance," he said,

Ethiopia's nine regions have the right to self-governance and to draw up and administer their own budgets to fund their economic, social and development policies.

Meles' supporters point to Ethiopia's progress since 1991 with the number of schools surging 10-fold, health services expanding and infrastructure projects booming nationwide.