The 'Sergegna Teff' or the 'Fire and Grass Metaphor': Which Way to Go for Amhara and Oromo Elites in Post-2018 Ethiopia?

This article aims at analysing the factors and forces that affect the Amhara and Oromo elites' political discourses and their relations in the post-2018 period. The study employs a qualitative research approach, with data drawn from articles, books, online video records, reports, and interviews. During the Amhara and Oromo popular protests, politicians allied to ensure solidarity between the two groups and unleash a new political setup. However, the study reveals that the Amhara and Oromo elites have failed to heal the historical contradictions and narrow the divergent interests lingering between them for several decades using the opportunities created in the post-2018 era. In the new political setup, the Amhara and Oromo elites engage in competition for discourse, territory, and power afresh, contrary to the demand to create solidarity using the 'Segegna Teff metaphor as a leading discourse. After the inception of the reform in 2018 in Ethiopia, they relapsed into a 'fire and grass' metaphor that sustains fault lines between the two largest groups. To get out of this problem, discussions and elite bargaining are essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]