The Ethiopian political environment has made a dramatic transformation since the May 2005 election, in fact it is no wonder that many people use ‘The May 2005 Election’ as a time reference when discussing Ethiopian related political, economic, and social issues. An elected parliament member whose seat is stolen by TPLF bandits will never forget the May 2005 election because it is the time he/she swung between hope and hopelessness in a time span of one week. A mother who lost her son and a father whose daughter gave her life to save others, will always remember the May 2005 election because it is a day their children vanished, and their votes stolen.
May 2005 is a day where millions of Ethiopians endured contrasting temperatures and stood on long lines for half a day to vote out tyranny and nepotism. Akin to people in most democratic countries, the power of the Ethiopian people rests on the ballot box, but unlike democratic governments (USA, Japan, South Africa and Swaziland), the Ethiopian government does not respect the verdict of the people. Most democratic governments of the world empower their people, and watch their political power springing out from this empowerment. The TPLF government is different; in fact TPLF is quite a unique government. Machine guns are the typical sources of TPLF’S power, as far as TPLF is concerned, the role of the people is to do what they are told to do and pay taxes. All in all, people are not the source of power in the TPLF regime!
In the last eight months, the issue of joining the parliament was one of the most boisterous whimper of TPLF and its die-hard supporters. There are three factors that should be distinguished and recognized: First, it is not only CUD that boycotted the parliament, the parliament was boycotted by UEDF too! Sure, just like TPLF is against the will of the people, there are some who joined the parliament against the will of the people. Secondly, the very reason of boycotting the parliament was to avoid any possibility of working with a voted out government and not to sit with individuals who are not elected by the people. What is the use of joining a parliament that doesn’t recognize the very existence of opposition parties? In my opinion, one should not go to a place where he/she can make no difference. In economic jargon, the opportunity cost of joining the Meles parliament is extremely high.
Finally, I have a good word for one strident member of the old guard who blames the Diaspora for all things that happen and do not happen in the world including the 2004 tsunami (http://www.aigaforum.com/Mulugetak060208.htm ). For a person who grew up observing political appointees rove the feudal parliament, I guess it will not be strange to see him praise TPLF’s parliament which is full of political appointees. It is true that the Ethiopian Diaspora has started to be louder and speak the same language. This common voice of the Diaspora is not the result of the May 2005 election; it is the outcome of more than twenty years of coordinated struggle. How can one categorically label the Diaspora as henchmen of the Derg, when the majority of the Diaspora left Ethiopia looking for a place of safety from the brutal hands of Mengistu, leader of the Derg. The Ethiopian Diaspora resides in six continents and its total number is estimated in millions, when such a huge number of “heterogeneous” people demonstrate day in and day out in a foreign land and demand a better government for Ethiopia, even the late Mobutu Sese Seko discerns that Ethiopia lacks a good government. Last, but not least, I want to stress that the word ‘moribund’ should not be applied for any of the promising, young, and adored opposition parties of Ethiopia, it should rather be applied for TPLF whose inevitable death is at hand.
Most Ethiopians, no matter how and where they live, they are always attached to their home land. Ethiopians, or for that matter nationals of any country have no reason to wish poverty to their nation. When politically conscious Ethiopians demand wealthy nations not to channel aid fund directly to the current government of Ethiopia, they have an excellent ground and they absolutely know what they are talking about. As I mentioned it above, the power of TPLF comes out of the barrel of a gun and that gun is purchased by money that flows from donor countries. The TPLF regime can not survive the rage of the Ethiopian people with out the material, moral, and political support of wealthy countries.
Therefore, when the Diaspora requests its respective government not to channel aid to the TPLF regime, all it is saying is- please don’t send my tax money to a government that kills my brothers and sisters. For example, as an American tax payer, I don’t want to see a humvee financed by my tax dollar to serve as a steppingstone to killers in my native country. Unlike some nonsensical gluttonies that exist to just fill their bellies, a good majority of the Diaspora has a clear understanding of the difference between the Ethiopian people and the TPLF regime. Ethiopia and Ethiopians are large and continuous entities where as TPLF is bounded by time and space. The old English saying “what is good for the goose is good for gander” does not work here!
The demise of TPLF is inevitable, the question is – When is that sanctified day? Today, most countries and lots of people including some members of EPRDF agree that Meles is a dictator; the incongruity is on how dreadful he is. Meles is a horrible dictator, most donor countries including the United States should recognize that their long term relationship is with the Ethiopian people, not with a barrage of dictators that come and go. A genuine and lasting aid to Ethiopia is not to donate wheat or money; it is to help Ethiopians build democratic institutions. A democratic and stable Ethiopia can grow its own wheat and feed its people. The over all interest of people in my naturalized country America, and in my native country Ethiopia is similar, both Ethiopians and Americans like peace, good standard of living, and complete liberty.
Ethiopians fight terrorism the same way Americans do, therefore, serving the interest of a dictator that bullies its own people in the pretext of containing Al-Qaeda contradicts with the current American effort of fighting international terrorism. Terrorists might have different faces, but they should all be avoided regardless of where they are and who they are. Helping a dictator [Meles] that terrorizes its citizens is practically the same as sustaining the acts of terrors on seventy million people.
