 Deconstructing Zenawi’s By Concerned Ethiopians in
It was embarrassing to read the
He opened his wickedly written response
with the clichéd affirmation: “I am particularly relieved and grateful to Your Honourables for reassuring me that it is in the mutual interest of both countries that Ethiopia be as secure, stable and prosperous as possible.”
Fact: The destructive ethnic
agenda he has imposed on the Ethiopian people, the corrupt fiscal policies he has unashamedly implemented, his antiquated authoritarian rule, and the vicious massacre of peaceful protesters, are not characteristics of a man committed to see Ethiopia “as secure, stable and prosperous as possible.”
He bragged: “We
embarked on the process of democratic reform in our country not to please or displease anyone, but because we are convinced that there can be neither stability nor prosperity without democracy in Ethiopia .”
Fact: Meles miscalculated he
would please the donors with sham elections and dupe them again, as he had done several times before May 15, into giving him more money to stash away in his foreign bank accounts. This time, however, the Ethiopian electorate taught him a bitter lesson: he did fail to please even his staunchest benefactors, including Prime Minister Tony Blair. He alleged: “All credible domestic and international observers have declared that the elections, including the processes of the election day have been free, fair and transparent by any standard and not just by Ethiopian or African standards.”
Fact: Several domestic and
international observers reported rampant election fraud, vote rigging and intimidation. Peter Takirambudde, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch’s Africa Division, pointed out “. the authorities have intensified the repression they have used to keep themselves in power for 13 years.” Ana Gomez, Chief EU Election observer confirmed reports of beatings of opposition officials and disruption of their rallies. On May 25, 2005, the European Union declared “…unless there is a drastic reversal toward good democratic practice (we ) will have to publicly denounce the situation….”
He
whined: “The bulk of the opposition had all along publicly declared that its interest was not to win seats in parliament, but to use the electoral process to remove the constitutional order through extra-constitutional means.”
Fact:
The opposition only asked for free and fair elections, and for an independent electoral board that was not an appendage of the ruling party. In the run-up to the elections, they demanded the formation an independent electoral body. After the elections, they requested investigations into rampant fraud, vote rigging, imprisonment and harassment of poll watchers, members and supporters of opposition groups.
He
absurdly affirmed: “While in Ethiopia, as I presume is also the case in the United States, such an act would be an act of high treason, we felt their agenda should be challenged by political, electoral means rather than by legalistic means”.
Fact: To think that asking for
free and fair elections is considered high treason in the United States is to display utter ignorance, emanating from compulsive arrogance.
He
brashly asserted: “In this context, we defeated their attempts to smear the pre-election and polling day processes by going out of our way to ensure a fair, free and transparent process, a process that was declared to be such by all who had the opportunity to observe it. “
Fact: The ruling party lost the
elections and went its usual way of harassing, intimidating, arresting and killing members and supporters of the opposition. Many credible observers witnessed that the elections were marred by blatant irregularities and fraud.
He
absent-mindedly conjured up: “Consistent with our decision to face the challenge by political and electoral means, we again went out of our way and on the morrow of polling day asked all foreign observers to observe the investigations into the possible allegations of election irregularities. We put forward a process of addressing such concerns that was exemplary in its transparency and fairness.”
Fact: In the aftermath of the
elections, Meles Zenawi declared a state of emergency, banned all forms of public gatherings, and denied the opposition any access to the government-controlled media.
In
brazen denial, he belabored: “In the end, those who were seeking excuses to launch their “revolution” could not be deterred by transparent, free and fair processes alone and created the disturbances of June 8. Your Honourables would be mistaken if you believed that our compatriots died on June 8 as a result of state sponsored violence in a confrontation between the police and “enthusiastic demonstrators”. The tragic deaths were the result of the opposition’s attempt to subvert the constitutional order and the government’s legitimate attempts to prevent it.”
Fact:
On June 8, Meles Zenawi (who had put under his direct command the military and police as of May 15th) ordered his special forces to massacre university students and other citizens, whose only crime was to request that their votes be fairly counted. In addition to the above reason, Meles and his officials have been throwing conflicting reasons for the carnage. For example, the Federal Police Commissioner reported that the demonstrators had been shot by inadequately trained police officers, while the Minister for information, Bereket Simon, declared the victims had been shot when “they were attempting to rob banks and stores”.
He
flagrantly concocted: “I fail to understand why Your Honourables thought that the election of “so many opposition candidates” was “a bitter disappointment” to us. . “
Fact: If
Meles thought anybody would believe the above, one would wonder whether he had not lost his sanity. His security forces have killed opposition parliament elects in Central Ethiopia, and his cadres and security forces have been on a rampage arresting and harassing members and supporters of the opposition in thousands throughout the country since the elections
He
whimpered: “In the penultimate paragraph of your joint letter dated 20 June, 2005 you state that ‘The people of Addis Ababa have been unable to work, buy food, access electricity, and tend to basic daily living needs due to the ongoing state of emergency and violence in the streets.’ Under normal circumstances, I would have dismissed such an assertion which does not even remotely resemble the facts on the ground.”.
Fact: Where was he when almost
everything in the capital came to a stand still, with cab drivers, shopkeepers, students, etc., going on strike for an entire week following the June 8th carnage?
He ineffectually alleged: “.
an assertion coming from the fertile imagination of some of the financiers of the opposition in the U.S., many of whom are facing charges in Ethiopia for crimes against humanity that they committed as officials of the Mengistu regime.”
Fact: This lie is intended to
take cover under Mengistu’s shadow to avoid the inevitable charges against Meles for his crimes against humanity. If there are officials of the Mengistu regime in the US who should be charged for crimes against humanity, Meles was unable to comprehend that members of Congress would be in a better position to get more reliable intelligence about them.
Lies,
lies and more malicious lies: “It is in this context that I want to re-assure you that Ethiopia is currently peaceful and stable, that we will complete the election process by carrying out a totally transparent and fair investigations into the alleged irregularities and redressing wrongs, if any.”
Fact:
The Meles propaganda machinery and his state apparatus are tirelessly promoting all sorts of machinations aimed at turning one Ethiopian ethinc group against another. In a police state where mismanagement, nepotism and corruption are rampant, and where the people are completely disenchanted and disgusted with the authoritarian rule of a tyrant, the illusion of stability and security would remain whimsical.
His
vile nature took the better of him, and swanked: “We will naturally enforce the rule of law in our country and prevent any attempt to subvert the constitutional process, in a firm but restrained and legal manner.”
Fact:
As he has done it numerous times, there is no doubt Meles will continue to use all means available to him to thwart the Ethiopian people’s aspiration for freedom and democracy.
In
conclusion, he pathetically and impudently pleaded: “I believe as friends of Ethiopia, you ought to have balanced information and to listen to both sides before you make your minds.”
Fact:
While his soldiers are killing innocent lives, his security forces are harassing, intimidating and arresting supporters of the opposition, and his instrument of deception, the National Electoral Board, is engaged in full-fledged vote rigging, he is asking for sympathy from the US Congress. In other words, he is asking for Congress to put the blame on the massacred, the imprisoned and the harassed, whose only crime is to demonstrate peacefully and demand fair and free elections.
Thus, the
obsessive and compulsive liar once again exposed his despicable ignorance and antiquated propaganda to the people of Ethiopia, members of the US Congress, and all other friends of Ethiopia. |
