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Haile Selassie, however, has vowed that "the monarchy will remain." In a traditional gesture of good will, he drove to the Addis marketplace, rolled down the window of his limousine and handed out green Ethiopian dollar bills to the swarming beggars. The protesters were not impressed. "The time is past for puny Imperial charity," said one labor leader. Far more meaningful was the Emperor's decision to appoint a constitutional commission with a mandate to propose some reforms within six months. Last week he told a press conference that he "wishes to change the constitution [so that] the will of the people will now dictate our attitude. Even the rights of the sovereign will depend on the will of the people."
TIME Correspondent Lee Griggs, who was in Addis Ababa last week, reports that "veteran observers wonder whether Selassie's talk of reform is sincere. At other times he has spoken movingly of the need for change, but nothing ever came of it. One problem has been the ability of the Amhara tribe, to which the Emperor belongs, to thwart any alteration of the status quo. A land-owning feudal aristocracy that collects up to 90% of a tenant's harvest as rent, the Amharas have stalled land reform and can be expected to resist any attempt to undermine their power."
If the Emperor drags his feet on reform, the military—sparked by middle-echelon officers—will likely move again. While they seem ready to retain the monarchy as a symbol of national unity, the young officers can be expected to push for high taxes on the wealthy Amharas. Most likely they will aim to deprive the throne of its remaining power by insisting on a constitution that provides for competing political parties and a Cabinet responsive to a popularly elected Parliament.