“We have no enemies in this struggle; …… our struggle is to create a level playing field where everyone’s voice is heard and the collective vision that comes out of that is one shared by all. That is what the Ethiopian people hoped for in May 2005. That is what our leaders are in jail for. That is what our compatriots have paid the ultimate sacrifice for. That is what we will continue to struggle towards, for as long as it takes.” – Kinijit Open Letter, to the US Ambassador in Ethiopia, April 19, 2006
“…Only when we have wiped the tears from the faces of all, have we truly arrived as a nation.” – M. Ghandi
1. Introduction
Those elected leaders of political parties that have been so wrongly thrown into jail accused with a crime that can send them, if the regime gets its way, to the gallows solemnly declared: “we have no enemies.” They do not reciprocate hate with hate, enmity with enmity. They want an enemy-free conception of politics, a politics that builds and not destructs. They want to end the curse and era of cynical and myopic politics that has undermined the collective strength of the Ethiopian people for generations exposing them to untold humiliation in history. They want a productive politics that can facilitate the realisation of a new path, a new dawn, a new world and a new national democratic civilisation for Ethiopia.
Have we not truly entered as a nation, people, country a new moral universe thanks to their launching of a new politics with principle and humanity, resistance through putting the suffering of self before calling on others? These are indeed true persons with character and dignity. Though they suffer in jail, they refuse to surrender their spirit and intellect to revenge or hatred. The jailed leaders and CUD as a party do not consider aggression as defence; they do not consider vengeance as justice, hatred or enmity as virtue and right. Therein reside the unique distinction of the women and men in jail, having scored a magnificent moral achievement that is second to none. This is indeed a rare attainment that only a few politicians in history have made.
It is these jailed leaders along with the numerous independent journalists, civil society activists, the young, and those always not readily coming easily to notice from the urban poor to the rural poor that the regime continues to abuse.
2. Forked Tongued Donors and Justice
The elected leaders of CUD have been judged as ‘guilty’ by the regime even before they were put in jail. They have recognised this fact and shunned the remote- controlled judicial system after being arrested so illegally and unjustly. The donors know the leaders are elected by the people. The jailed leaders only wished to protest the many irregularities and injustices during and after the election. Unfortunately the donors have not spoken with consistency with regard to the elected jailed leaders. To be sure the donor community has added its welcome voice for their release. NES applauds this stance from the donor community both inside and outside Ethiopia in calling for the immediate release of these morally distinguished and principled Ethiopians. NES is, however, worried why some of the bigger donors like the ambassadors from USA, Britain, Germany in Ethiopia and others continue to contradict their own self-expressed just stand calling for their immediate release by adding often in their statements the wish to see a ’speedy trial’! What does it mean to call for their release and call for a trial that is false and based on preposterous charges? Donors fully know the compelling fact that the court is rigged and justice can only be ill-served.
Consistency from the Donors in Ethiopia will help hugely to avert the impending danger gathering as a storm over Ethiopia. The donors are fully aware that armed resistance is brewing in various parts of the country. The donors warn their citizens to be safe when they travel to Ethiopia. What makes them refuse to see the obvious that the regime that relies on violence is blocking all peaceful avenues of resistance, and encouraging opposition to manifest in armed form? Who is to blame for this? Those in jail who have no enemies or the regime who fabricates willy-nilly numberless enemies from a peaceful population? Why do the donors look away from warning the regime now its path is wrong and is bound to lead to strife, conflict, disaster and war? What is the point of victimising the innocent jailed leaders when those who blocked the nation’s democratic transition are encouraged to lead the nation to war? Donors have grave responsibility not to abet and unwittingly encourage the regime to be belligerent and fight by trying to splitting
the peaceful opposition represented by CUD.
When the regime in Ethiopia victimises those who believe in the democratic process and peaceful change, and resistance through civil and not armed struggle, donors must know that the regime is betting and spoiling sadly for an armed contest by expecting to relying on continued donor support. This dangerous strategy by the regime must be rejected by donors. All those who entered with good faith the democratic process must be supported ´by donors.
3. The April 19, 2006 CUD Statement from Addis Ababa
NES is alarmed by the gravity of the situation and developments explained in the April 19, 2006 statement issued by Kinjit regarding the role of the US embassy and other embassies in helping the diabolical regime of Meles Zenawi to split once again a popular opposition party that has been dearly inscribed in the hearts and minds of the Ethiopian people. The Meles regime has picked up the art of manipulation to perfection in splitting organisations and movements in order to frustrate and make it impossible for a viable nation-wide peaceful and democratic opposition to emerge in the country. Its very nature as a minority regime wishing to survive for as long as possible is inextricably linked with a strategy to manipulate democracy and not institutionalise principles of sustained governance with a one person and one vote decision of the people.
4. Minority Hegemonic Control vs. democratic Transition
Arguably, if a minority TPLF core controlled superficial coalition like EPDRF is to survive; democratic transition has to be sacrificed. The imperative of extending the tenure of minority hegemonic control destroys the prospect of democratic transition. The ruling core group wishes to break, make, subvert, destroy, combine, disperse, fracture, fragment, (and any combination of these there of at will), by using its hideous apparatus of oppression upon any political force that has an agenda different from it and is not allied to it under its total control. Allowing a free democratic transition process to take place in the country and keeping the dominance of the TPLF is indeed a contradiction in terms.
Remember TPLF since its inception in Tigray has not acted to submit to a fair and free election to legitimise its authority there. It is and remains a self-appointed arrogant power, claiming to be the sole authority based on its own mis-understanding and definition of the interest of the people in Tigray relying on blackmail, the gun and threat of violence and sweeteners such as skewed allocation of resources to the elite of the region compared to others. If it fails to practise democracy in Tigray, how can one expect that the TPLF would practice democracy in the rest of Ethiopia? The very logic and principle of authority in society that TPLF frames Ethiopia’s democracy with is a divisive politics that destruct incapable of ever constructing a democratic environment and composing the collective strength of the Ethiopian people. Unless the struggle is intensified to prioritise democratic transition, any expectation that the TPLF would allow such a transition whilst still pursuing a minority-based hegemonic agenda would be a pipedream. It staggers disbelief why diplomats who know this dilemma that Ethiopian democracy is confronted with allow themselves to be used by the TPLF to join in breaking, fracturing and fragmenting opposition parties that the TPLF has been a past master at wrecking. Have they forgotten that, TPLF not only dispersed the idea of the Ethiopian nation by a mechanistic sublimation and subordination to the hegemonic ambition of a self-serving and virulent elite from Tigray, but also each ethnic- based organisation that has not voluntarily abdicated to be dictated by TPLF’s peculiar politics of domination and hegemony has to face the punishment of being fractured and fragmented as well? Thus for the OLF, there is the OPDO, for the ONC, there is another run by a person loyal to the TPLF. OFDM has been sabotaged to split into fractions. This fate has befallen all other ethnic groups and organisations. Now the same foul treatment falls on CUD. And even foreign diplomats are not spared, having been lured to support this TPLF divisive history and mode of politicking.
5. The Meles Bluff Exposed
The Meles regime brags often that it wished very much to see a strong opposition. God delivered its wish and brought the CUD that has within record time become not only a powerful force backed by the people, but also has occupied an exemplary moral and political position by vowing to link the idea of Ethiopian nationhood with the wiping out of the endless tears from every mother, child, son and daughters of Ethiopia for ever.
CUD wants to eradicate the twin sores of dictatorship and poverty from the Ethiopian soil. Now Meles took fright and seems to play up his putative role as a ‘partner in the war on terror’ to win the support of donors to try to employ divisive politics to defeat democracy and the Ethiopian people.
Democratic nations did not simply drop from the sky. They are built by the imaginings and hard work of purposeful generations. Each generation transfers the fruits of its hard work to the next generation; and like in a relay system the sweat of the last generation eggs on the next until the dreams and aspirations that connect the idea of the Ethiopian nation with wiping out the tears from the faces of all Ethiopians is fulfilled.
We say this generation must achieve democratic transition and a democratic system. It must not leave this task for the next generation. Let the next generation solve the building of Ethiopia as a prosperous nation. The key obstacle that wishes to transfer dictatorship for the next generation is the hegemonic ambition of the Meles dictatorship.If the Meles regime can steal the election in 2005, there is no reason why its behaviour would change in the years 2010 or subsequent five years, should it continue to call elections. The jailed leaders that are in prison have fought them for the last decade and half for democracy. They did not start the struggle in 2005. The Ethiopian people resent the divisive politics of the regime. They have been doing so since this regime forced itself over the society and the individual. They know this regime is anti-democratic and would not allow free election to remove it from power. The regime knows that it cannot command the trust and respect of the people. It knows it has done nothing but upset the people and impose cynical and divisive politics over them.
The democratic movement for a democratic transition to change authoritarian government into democratic governance, to root the principle of political authority in the people must be strengthened and continue. The Ethiopian people can only give up mobilising for democratic transition at the risk of their own and their children’s future. It is the time for democratic transition now, not in the year 2010 or thereafter into an unknown time. Ethiopians must reject the gun, intrigues and other methods to abuse their democratic achievement.
6. Donors Must Support National Reconciliation in Ethiopia
Donors and diplomats must support Ethiopian democratic transition now and should not mix the issue of Ethiopian democratic transition with any other preoccupation.
Diplomats should call for reconciliation, national dialogue and show their willingness to facilitate the opposition and the regime to come to a conference table and not go behind the back of the victimised opposition and add insult to injury by openly endorsing regime divisive action to split and weaken the main opposition party. They should not engage in practices that can entangle and complicate issues of the democratic transition in the country. Closed door manoeuvring hiding from the Ethiopian people will not serve the purpose of democracy in Ethiopia.
The donors must put pressure on all forces that pursue contradictory political goals to solve all their problems peacefully. This call should be extended to all those who employ peaceful struggle and those who employ armed struggle. Commitment to Ethiopia’s democratic transition means applying pressure primarily on the regime and the peaceful and armed opposition groups to come to a roundtable conference to find a minimum programme to prevent the country from going even more into a destructive path. This may be getting too late, but if there is a will and the donors without any other consideration try to facilitate, all the political forces may come to a roundtable to find feasible pathways to put Ethiopia on an irreversible trajectory of democratic transition and autocratic to democratic governance. Instead of joining the diabolical objectives of the regime to split the peaceful opposition and embolden the armed opposition to engage in more armed struggle, the donors should facilitate a peaceful roundtable conference by excluding no political force for as long as it takes. The regime would try to block this, but the donors can put the demand for the larger good of stopping the suffering of the people. Unless the principle of authority in society is firmly rooted in the people and people of Ethiopia alone, peace and stability would remain elusive.
7. Concluding Remarks:
TPLF has been known to be buying, bribing, and splitting political organisations, social movements, and professional associations. This behaviour emanates from the fact it is a minority regime which wants to survive through force aided by the worn out strategy of divide and rule.
It is important that the Ethiopian people should be given a chance to decide on their fate by liberating themselves from their rulers who have been a source of misery and brutality for many generations. The only way that the Ethiopian people liberate themselves from poverty and
hunger is through their own control of their destiny. The main obstacle has been authoritarian rule and rulers to date. Democracy has never been tried. Peaceful changes took place only when a ruler decided to be a monk, and when a saint got involved to mediate between two dynasties. Otherwise changes have taken place through force, intrigue, poison and other unsavoury methods.
Donors must side with the aspiration of the Ethiopian people for democracy. Their own interests are best served by siding with the Ethiopian people and not with the autocratic rulers of Ethiopia.
The most useful role donors in general and the US ambassador in particular can play right now in Ethiopia is to avert the danger brewing in the country for armed struggle. They should be at the forefront calling for a nation wide and all inclusive national conference and dialogue of all the political forces struggling with peaceful and armed methods in the country to chart a new and sustainable path called by those who are in jail, and thankfully hold the moral high ground by proclaiming solemnly:’ We have no enemies.”
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Professor Mammo Muchie, Chair of NES-Scandinavian Chapter
Berhanu G. Balcha, Vice- Chair of NES-Scandinavian Chapter
Tekola Worku, Secretary of NES-Scandinavian Chapter
