We at Ethiomedia congratulate the heroes and heroines of the Ethiopian democracy movement, their families, the Shimagles, and the Ethiopian people for standing resolute in the face of difficult times. Kinijit is a political party and a social movement whose time has come and no one can stop it. Ethiopia’s renaissance in the new millennium will be built on the democratic principles of accountability, transparency, the supremacy of law and respect for human rights. Nothing less will be acceptable.
After 16 years at the helm of power it is about time for Meles Zenawi to acknowledge the Ethiopian reality, that it is seeking change for the better, and no force is capable to stop it, albeit briefly and by violent means. The time calls for the ruling party to reconcile itself with the Ethiopian people. Ethiopia doesn’t deserve to make headline news as a country whose government arrests 40,000 or 80,000, a figure which is inconceivable for most nations around the world.
The illusion to keep an iron grip on Ethiopia for ever should end with the release of the CUD-Kinijit leaders. TPLF should know governments are not eternal; people are. The release of the elected leaders should be a genuine release, and not a summer recess for the regime until it strikes back at the nation with a fury reserved only for the enemy of Ethiopia, and plunges the country into another sad chapter.
We truly don’t want to remember Mr. Zenawi as the proverbial beast: “The lion is the king of the jungle, not to rule but to devour.” The massacre of 193 Ethiopians, and the seven policemen believed to have been murdered by government snipers so as Mr. Meles or Mr. Bereket would counter-balance the huge civilian casualties by using the false excuse, and tell the outside world: “You see! The protesters were armed because they killed seven of our policemen,” while actually it was the government that shot them dead and whisked their bodies for burial….such bestial chapter should be the last of its kind on the part of the Meles-Bereket-Sebhat gang. Let the nearly 800 women and children who survived gunshot wounds be the last flock of survivors of a “government” war on the people.
Any resort to the old game – the game of threatening political opponents to “either toe my line or else you face the gun” – should be history on the part of the Meles regime. And we hope Mr. Meles Zenawi – undobutedly the maker and breaker of the law – would do the country justice by upholding the sanctity of the Rule of Law.
The post-Kaliti political order should kick off with an auspicious start, in an environment of national reconciliation, and together with the elected leaders of CUD-Kinijit and other opposition parties, help the ailing nation breathe an air of peace, democracy, justice, and make it stand on its feet – healthy and robust.
