Internal feud dismantling EPRDF

By Robele Ababya | September 27, 2012

Andropov
died on 09 February 1984 after only 15 months in office and the moment of truth
came up when internal feud crushed and dismantled the monolithic Central
Communist Party and mammoth clumsy government state machinery under the omnipresent
tight control of the Party. This is in sharp contrast to cases in a democratic
society where individuals are free to voice their free opinion without fear and
changes of regimes take place in orderly manner through the verdict of the
people casting their votes at the polls.

As a copycat
of the Brezhnev era and Stalin-style grip on power, ultimate demise of the exclusive
misrule Zenawi’s was never in doubt just like that of his predecessor Mengistu
Hailemariam who was advised by Brezhnev himself to follow a policy of mixed
economy to be implemented by an inclusive government with broad base.

The
powerhouse of EPRDF built according to Stalin’s design is replete with mistrust
instilled in it by its architect the late pathological liar. Therefore it would
be naïve to expect the new Prime Minister (PM) as an accomplice to the heinous
crimes of his former boss to denounce in his acceptance speech the destructive
policy of the EPRDF of which he was one of the architects. He didn’t even
mention God in taking oath of office.

Champions of liberty freedom and human
dignity

The
following fall in the category of outstanding individuals,  with vision and exceptional acumen of
great leaders rallying others with similar vision for the purpose of ending
tyranny:-

1.         Abraham Lincoln: One of the greatest
statesmen in the world known for gallantly leading his divided nation locked in
a bloody civil war that culminated in the abolition of slavery in the United
States of America. From his famous Gettysburg Address commemorating fallen
heroes we often quote:  “… that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of
freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall
not perish from the earth. He underscored the bedrock principle according to
which the USA was founded, thus: “Four score and seven years ago our fathers
brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Note: Quotes are
from the famous President’s Address made on 19 November 1863 (Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania).

2.         Emperor Menilik II: The victor of the famous
Battle of Adwa that beacon of hope of the black people in the Diaspora; a truly
beloved Great Leader of His people that dubbed Him Immye Menilik (Mother
Menilik). Adwa is our hallowed ground where Ethiopians from all corners
converged to defend their liberty by paying incalculable sacrifice in human
life, spilt blood, and material resources. The Emperor was a magnanimous great
leader who had elevated His captives in the battle fields to enviable top
positions in His cabinet.

3.         Mahatma Gandhi: Mahatma means “Great
Soul”- an accolade given by the people to the Founder of the Indian Nation, the
largest democracy in the world. Gandhi developed a method of direct social
action based upon the principles courage, nonviolence and truth called Satyagraha. He believed that the way
people behave is more important than what they achieve. Satyagraha promoted
nonviolence and civil disobedience as the most appropriate methods for
obtaining political and social goals. Among the tributes to Gandhi upon his
death were these words by the great physicist, Albert Einstein: “Generations to come will scarce believe that
such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood”. For the purpose of my
writing this piece, I would like to add this quote by Gandhi: “Man becomes
great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his
fellow-men. “

4.         .Martin
Luther King: Supreme champion of human rights who gave his life in the struggle
for those rights. Here is one of his scores of quotes I chose for my purpose: “Now,
I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today
and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American
dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the
true meaning of its creed: – ‘We hold these truths to
be self-evident, that all men are created equal’.”

Nelson
Mandela: The only celebrated Statesman of our time who had sacrificed his life for
27 years in prison during the Apartheid era to which he put an end and set up
Truth, Peace and Reconciliation Commission to bury the past and lay the
foundation for building the Rainbow democratic nation of South Africa.

I should
be quick to add that the distinguished exceptional leadership of President
Lincoln and Martin Luther King laid the foundation for the minority black
people of the USA to hold positions of political power progressively
culminating in Mr. Barrack Hussein Obama as the first black African-American. This
is a highly commendable act of elevating merit above the ethnic origin, color
or creed in electing individuals to high office.

Lincoln,
Menilik II, Gandhi, and King dedicated themselves to the noble cause of either
fighting aggressors or violators of fundamental human rights so that our common
humanity shall be the centerpiece of a democratic and caring society without
discrimination based on ethnic origin, creed, gender or political belief. Individual
merit should be the sole criterion in public service as was vividly expressed
in the Tenesa Teramed (Stand up and stride) rallying song that became popular
in the aftermath of the 1974 Ethiopian Revolution. So it matters not to me
where the new PM originated from.

Those among
the above who held the reigns of political power at the helm did nothing to
enrich individuals of their ethnic background because merit was their only
yardstick in appointing individuals to higher positions. None are tainted with
corruption or abuse of power. All of them fit the template of “Great Leaders”
or “Great Statesmen”! Such accolades are validated after a long time and emerge
from the masses expressed in various ways such as in poems, music, paintings,
folk songs et al – as well as from the chronicles of historians and writings of
scholars.

But Zenawi
was a cruel despot who tried hard to “make dictatorship work; he is the
antithesis of the above supremely stalwart leaders. It is almost certain that Bereket
Simon and the EPRDF Party Secretary prepared the acceptance speech in which the
accolade of ‘Great Leader’ was inscribed five times and asked the poor new PM
to read it. The speech went as far as exalting the tyrant as a leader who cared
about the poor of the world. That is how the Stalinist system works!

Giving time to the new PM?

The new PM
vowed to retain the legacy of his former boss intact undiminished. One wonders
whether it was really out of his own free volition or under duress that he made
his acceptance speech given the repugnant legacy left behind by Zenawi, to wit: sellout of Ethiopia’s vital national interests such
as active support for the separation of Eritrea; grisly heinous crimes
including genocide, victims of torture, incarceration of peaceful protesters en
masse; extra judiciary execution of peaceful protesters, the wailing of
mothers, the agony of bereaved families, filthy jails in which hundreds of
political prisoners are cruelly kept, toiling peasants in serfdom, interethnic
hatred, dangerous interference with Orthodox Christian and Muslim religious
affairs in violation of the constitution; daylight robbery of votes, pervasive
corrupt practices, culture of pathological lies, demised free media, government
monopoly of all pillars of democracy, blocked freedom of expression, poor
educational standard, forbidden academic freedom in tertiary institutions, a
land-locked country, fertile farmland ceded to the Sudan; leasing large chunks
of fertile farmlands to unscrupulous foreign investors at tiny price; massive
unemployment largely affecting the youth; demoralized youth addicted to
psycho-thermal drugs; abject poverty; rampant unemployment; environmental
disaster; rampant breach of the constitution; regional instability et al.

Given that the
new PM did not make any concession for relaxing the Stalinist policy of the
late dictator Zenawi, I oppose the costly traditional “wait and see attitude”
and subscribe to the old
adage of beating the iron while it is hot. In support of my contention, I provide this quotation by Martin Luther
King, which directly applies to the current messy Ethiopian political
environment: “This is no
time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug
of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is
the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit
path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all
of God’s children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand of
racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood”.

Conclusion

The
cancerous legacy inherited from tyrant Zenawi that, among other of its
atrocious components, relegates Ethiopians to live in divisive ethnic cocoons,
and which his successor has vowed to implement, must be categorically rejected.
The Amara and Oromo ethnic groups, previously earmarked by Fascist Italy and
subsequently by TPLF regime for political extinction, should join forces in
self-defense.

This is
not the time to relax the struggle against the repressive EPRDF regime
particularly when it is engaged in internal feud of the type that dismantled
the former USSR and its monolithic CPSU; it is not the time to give it respite
at this time when Andualem Aragie, Eskinder Nega, Reyot Alemu, et al are in
prison in the face of the vow of the new PM to carry forward the policy of his
former boss undiminished.  

Four
decades of creeping change to democracy has already resulted in incalculable
cost in terms of human lives, human sufferings, and wastage of natural
resources. The time is now for the Ethiopian people, all opposition forces and
civic organizations to deal a heavy blow to the EPRDF while it is in disarray –
at this time of internal feud and mistrust is dismantling it. Give no respite
to a repressive regime while political prisoners languish in filthy jails and
Ethiopia is on the verge of falling apart!  

The
Almighty God has done His part; he is not going to interfere in the remaining
works that we can do in unison as Ethiopians for our own freedom, liberty,
dignity, democracy and prosperity.

The
legitimate Muslim-Christian joint demand for religious freedom should translate
into nationwide peaceful civil disobedience for the sake of securing all
liberties enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

President
Obama should, in the best longtime interest of his country, reject the EPRDF
policy in favor of change to democratic dispensation in Ethiopia that would be
a reliable ally in terms of her strategic location particularly at this time of
souring relations with Egypt and the Arab world and the rising global political
ambition of China. Christianity, Judaism and Islam have lived in relative
harmony for centuries in Ethiopia.

Long Live Ethiopia!

Release all political prisoners in Ethiopia,
including Andualem Aragie, Eskinder Nega, Reyot Alemu, et al

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The writer can be reached at

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