Voters in Ethiopia’s May 2005 elections took most of us aback by catapulting a united opposition into
political prominence after the opposition’s poor performance ever since EPRDF came to power in May 1991.
The participation of millions on voting day and the oppositions sweep of Addis Ababa and major towns left no doubt that Ethiopian opposition politics entered a new chapter in the country’s journey towards democracy. Dissatisfied by the election results and opposition gains, EPRDF tried to shore up its loss– first by declaring overall victory and later by bloody suppression of the opposition and its supporters.
EPRDF’s harassment, arrest and eventual imprisonment of the C.U.D. leaders led to breakup of coalitions in the C.U.D. and UEDF ranks and severely curtailed opposition political activities. EPRDF continued the killings and arrest of thousands of students, supporters, journalists, and opposition party members. This has created the current instability in the country.
The May 2005 elections dispelled Meles’ notion of ‘no viable opposition’ and exposed his unpopularity. An estimated two million people discontented by his rule demonstrated in early May 2005 in Addis. On May 15, 2005, an estimated twenty five million people waited for up to 18 hours queued in long lines to cast their vote. Addis rejected Meles’s rule; opposition candidates in Addis won all the seats. Other major towns of the country also seemed to follow Addis’s trend for C.U.D. and UEDF. Panicked and surprised by the outcome, the EPRDF began systematic vote rigging, creating and/or destroying voting cards as needed and intimidating voters to reverse the trend. EPRDF declared victory before all counts were in and followed the declaration by daily deceptive propaganda. The National Election Board (NEB) echoed EPRDF’s victory by declaring EPRDF the winner.
On June 8 2005, University students and Addis dwellers, inflamed by NEB’s pronouncement took to the streets demanding recount and shouting that EPRDF stole the votes. Para-military police responded by shooting indiscriminately at the demonstrators killing dozens and maiming hundreds more. Meles banned all demonstrations that in effect lasted till September 2005. In November 2005, the terror of killing and maiming of peaceful demonstrators continued. Meles justified the killings as a necessary action to “stop an insurrection”. Despite U.S. and E.U. efforts, the mediations and negotiations aimed at resolving the voting “irregularities” failed, so did the proposal made by the opposition for a “government of national unity”. Meles pressured elected opposition leaders directly and indirectly to join parliament. Under this pressure, the loose unity in the opposition coalitions ( UEDF and C.U.D.) began to fall apart. C.U.D. leaders would not join the parliament until EPRDF met their preconditions.
However, reports showed that up to eighty-elected C.U.D. members joined the parliament. Meles removed the immunity from criminal charges for elected candidates that refused to join his parliament and arrested C.U.D. leaders for “treason” and other crimes. International mediators again failed to influence Meles’ repressive measures. The arrest and imprisonment of C.U.D. officials, supporters, students and journalists not only raised Meles’s unpopularity to a new level but even his international friends, who for 15 years consistently lauded his leadership and supported his rule, began to feel awkward. As for UEDF, it split among member parties. In September 2005, UEDF’s Chairman and Vice-Chairman along with UEDF’s elected candidates joined the parliament. The UEDF parties outside Ethiopia called an emergency meeting that was held from January 13 –16, 2006 in Rockville, Maryland and expelled Drs Beyene and Merera from UEDF leadership and elected new officials.
Perspective on opposition politics
Until Election Day, the opposition exerted enough political pressure to get concessions from the ruling party that enabled it to effectively participate in the election process and reach the Ethiopian people. The opposition solicited and maintained diplomatic pressure (support from friends in EU and US) that helped it gain media access and movement in getting its message out to the Ethiopian people successfully. But from the onset, the opposition (C.U.D. & UEDF) lacked agreement in matters of whether EPRDF is a force to work with or struggle against. They lacked clarity and unity of thought on this question that resulted in wavering and splits under EPRDF’s carrot and stick pressures. Even today, it is not clear how the opposition (UEDF & C.U.D.) is approaching this problem…there is confusion in the opposition ranks. What is clear is EPRDF questioned the opposition’s existence for over a decade and the ruling party does not consider the opposition a force that it can work with; it views the opposition as nuisance to manage.
There is no “legal” way to conduct struggle in the post May elections Ethiopia. All opposition parties/individuals are still the target of EPRDF’s destruction. EPRDF has unleashed a reign of terror. At the Rockville January meeting, UEDF correctly characterized the current EPRDF state as dictatorial and terrorist.
Still though, the opposition has not risen to the level of leadership the people are demanding and the time requires. Coalitions in the opposition had a rocky start and continue to rock. The opposition’s proposal for “government of national unity” is not advanced consistently. Integration among the people and political and organizational work is still weak. The opposition’s diplomatic initiatives and efforts have been useful but partisan divisive undercurrent has reared its head again. Coordinated struggles by UEDF and C.U.D. representatives whether in Diaspora and/or in Ethiopia lack the effectiveness that gained them significant political grounds and support from the people seen in the pre-election period. Joint peaceful demonstrations to redress the “irregularities” in the elections failed to materialize. The opposition movement lost momentum when EPRDF imprisoned C.U.D. leaders and the Ethiopia- based -UEDF leaders and member parties joined the current parliament. Part of the opposition seems content with parliamentary elections and politics.
Meles and some in the opposition continue to seek solutions to our national problems from global donor powers. Globalism is anti-nationalism, breaks sovereign nations into weak smaller states along ethnic lines (e.g. USSR, Yugoslavia, etc). It is devastating to the socio-economic wellbeing of under developed countries. In fact, one may correctly point out that our basic national interest is in conflict with globalism. Help from friendly global powers in solving some our national problem is, at best, auxiliary. Some view C.U.D.’s nationalism more “Ethiopian” and a uniting force but EPRDF’s as divisive and destructive. However, even C.U.D.’s nationalism is not as strong as it should be because it is not as inclusive as it could and should be. It is more formal and nominal than actual. Thus, we see that there is no cohesive opposition party that represents and includes most or all the nationalities of the country. Though the current motive forces in the opposition that struggle at the forefront are by definition bourgeois democratic in nature, their movement is not unidirectional and is rather divergent along lines of different nationalities. That is, we see secessionists, pan Ethiopianists, and forgotten minorities struggling for self-determination and/or socioeconomic justice.
Hence the need and the importance for more effort in close cooperation and coordination among opposition parties. For all practical purposes, the ruling and opposition parties are organized along nationality/ethnic lines. Though it has increasingly become hard to form multinational parties, the dire need and urgency for forming multi-national parties along political lines has not diminished and must take the center stage of the opposition movement. The formation of a united front among these multi-national parties and groups is needed to overthrow the present terrorist state of EPRDF and create a democratic transitional government.
The opposition should not follow a single method of struggle. It has become obvious that it can’t overthrow EPRDF by elections. Peaceful struggle should not disarm the peasants by preaching peaceful death nor do the parties in the opposition act as human rights organizations with no practical political content. It is important to conduct the struggle using all means necessary.
Los Angeles UEDF Support Committee
Sunday April 09, 2006
