If EPRDF wanted to consider itself a full-fledged member of the international community by bringing its laws and policies in line with widely accepted legal principles across the globe, then one wonders why it failed to learn from the fact that almost no constitution in the world has Article 39 allowing nations/nationalities to freely walk away from Ethiopia. But Ethiopians have another constitution written in their hearts as the EPRDF officials have a constitution written in their hearts that is even more destructive than the so-called “FDRE Constitution.” It was Judge Learned Hand of United States Supreme Court who said it: “Liberty lies in the hearts of men. When it dies there no law, no court, no constitution can save it.” It is true that liberty and the full panoply of rights enshrined in the constitution as values do not exist in the hearts of PM Meles and other EPRDF officials. However, if there was any fracture in the Ethiopian society that the EPRDF had so painstakingly created it is being knit together now by the coalition that is forged by the opposition.
No genuine Ethiopian doubts it is high time that Meles should be stopped. PM Meles places so much emphasis on academic issues, and his opinions change from time to time while the country is suffering each passing moment from the pangs of hunger and deep impoverishment. He knows many theories; but he does not have a coherent vision for the country and the people he is ruling. Look where he dragged the country into and the latter is on the verge of utter collapse unless someone responsible takes the lead. The rape of Ethiopia that Dr Yehwalashet Girma talks about in his The Rape of a Nation has continued unabated. It would be stating the obvious to say that the country is being governed by a megalomaniac that is manifestly destroying the unity and integrity of the people and the country.
EPRDF tries to tell us that it has achieved important milestones in many aspects of the country’s life. It presents manipulable figures to show how giant strides have been made by way of addressing the country’s economic woes. As poor people, we Ethiopians do not have the need of numbers to learn how far our economy has progressed; what we get on our plate is proof enough that our situation has not improved at all. Like Martin Luther King, Jr. has said in his timeless “I have a Dream” speech regarding African Americans, we Ethiopians live “on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.” This statement is probably truer of Ethiopians than African Americans. And this mainly because of a bad government the motto of which is bigotry and corruption.
But still here we are stronger and united than ever before!! Ethiopians and its elite have proven to the whole wide world that they can swim against the current of disintegration to forge a hearty union. The opposition has demonstrated its commitment to democratic ideals because it has exhibited the highest degree of tolerance that is the cornerstone of democracy. Unlike the intolerant Meles administration, which has on every account shown its intolerance for anything “off track”, the opposition’s success lies in its union that crosscuts the deep ethnic and ideological cleavages eating away at the country like a “corrosive on metal.” The opposition has amply demonstrated that it deserves to be a government and it is evident that it has the capacity to propel the country in the direction of development. It has paid all the exorbitant costs that such a union demanded and its strategy of peaceful struggle represents a new brand of heroism unparalleled in Ethiopia’s long history. It persevered the fire that the intolerant incumbent coalition had put it through mobilizing the meager resources of the poor state.
What comes as a real surprise in the events preceding the election, however, is PM Meles’s accusation of the opposition of “smear campaign” and “Interhamwe tactics.” This is stunning coming from PM Meles who has irresponsibly and single-handedly engineered the constitutional right to secession and enthroned ethnicity in the political scene over and above every other political virtue. Since its inception the EPRDF has been marked with consuming propensity to view and experience the world through a prism of ethnicity. In deed Meles’s accusation resonates with the tactics employed by the Hutu genocidaires in the times preceding the genocide. This propaganda tactic is called “accusation in a mirror,” meaning imputing to enemies exactly what they and their own party are planning to do; it is emphasized, “In this way, the party which is using terror will accuse the enemy of using terror.” One is justified in having the foreboding that the Meles administration may use anything under its disposal if power is about to slip out of its hands. It is often remarked, “When smart people say such silly things, something unspoken is probably at work.”
Whether the opposition wins in this round of elections, one thing remains clear and that is that unlike any other coalition or government hitherto seen in the political life of the country, the opposition has come very close to the hearts and minds of Ethiopians. Put otherwise, for the first time in their history Ethiopians have come very close to having a government that they can call their own. But the EPRDF is more likely to come in between the people and the opposition to perpetuate its stench. We should hail the opposition for the commendable job they have done in exposing the quintessence of the EPRDF and listening to the heartbeat of the people. They did not cajole civil servants under the pain of forfeiture of jobs at any pretext and they did not have government property and finance on their hands to run fancy election campaigns; to the extent they were supported they owe their support to the popularity of their programs and their earnest commitment to the cause of democracy and rule of law. We Ethiopians now know that the government is unpopular and a far cry from the genuine choice of the people. If it stays in power it is because of its repressive nature that does not tally with free and fair elections. Yet, it is the most immoral thing to do on the part of PM Meles to seriously accuse the opposition of playing the ethnic card, as was the case with Rwandan genocidaires during the Rwandan genocide. Since the Ethiopian government is promoting ‘ethnocracy’ in the name of democracy it is amazing to see how things have a tendency to repeat themselves. The serious accusation leveled against the opposition by the PM can be viewed as a precursor to the horrendous action that the government might take to sidestep the votes and voices of the Ethiopian citizenry for the much-awaited change. God forbid!!
