The heresy, as Tesgaye relates it: The rise of Haile-Mariam Desalegn ,
an ethnic Welayta, one of the more than 45 minorities that make up the
Southern region, to the position of Deputy Prime Minister and
heir-apparent to PM Meles Zenawi; who is officially due to retire in
2015. “The hostility towards His Excellency Haile-Mariam Desalegn is
unfathomable. Diaspora opinion-makers are stereotyping and
stigmatizing him,” complains Tsegaye.
And lest anyone needs reminding, “the details of our despicable
background (history),” is posted in three episodes on YOUTUBE; courtesy
of Ben’s (the superfluous pro-EPRDF website. Aiga is the preferred
venue of the tiny maladjusted Diaspora) interview with “His Honorable
Ato Shiferaw Shigute (President of the Southern region.)”
Little surprise then, if there were the oppressed, there then
logically must have been the oppressors. Ideally, twenty years after
the triumph of the EPRDF, all are now humbled, guilt-ridden, and eager
to uphold the promotion of minorities — their worst victims. “But the
reality is the other way around,” laments Tsegaye. Chauvinists—the
die-hard oppressors of yesteryears — are instinctively distressed;
and even worse, are “conspiring to perpetuate the historical
marginalization of minorities.” To back his claim, he provides links
to four articles (by Abebe Gellaw, Elais Kifle, Ephrem Madebo and
Eskinder Nega.) And this is “another original crime against
(Ethiopia’s) minority ethnic groups,” proclaims Tsegaye.
Chauvinism is a French word. It derives from fictional French soldier,
Nicolas Chauvin, who stunned mere mortals with his many prodigious
traits in the 18th century. In its political application, though, it
is a hate word. A chauvinist is conceited, reactionary, a hater, and
ultimately, deluded by a false sense of superiority.
Chauvinism as a political dictum was first extensively used by Soviet
Communists, who, as revolutionary champions of “oppressed nations and
nationalities,” loudly admonished “Russian chauvinism.” And soon,
“progressives” around the world were hard pressed to find a local
context. In the US, “white chauvinism” competed with racism to
describe the bias against blacks in progressive circles. Even in
post-1949 China, only a few years removed from 300+ years of minority
Manchu dynasty rule, there was still room for “the evils of Han
chauvinism.” (Hans are the over 90 percent majority in China.) More than four
decades later, when the first batch of Ethiopia’s progressives
finally emerged in the early ’60s, there was even less ambiguity about
the certainty of home-bred chauvinism — that of Amhara.
But while chauvinism has seen its rise and fall elsewhere, it has
persisted, undiminished and potent as ever, in Ethiopia. Tegaye’s
charge is no hasty blunder. Nor is it, as some may suspect, a
throwback to a relic of a bankrupt ideology — now a preserve of no
more than the dustbin of history. Rather, it is a cold calculation to
exploit differences and fears. And thus, a clear and present danger to
the nation’s democratic aspirations.
Ethiopia is famously the lone African claimant to national
exceptionalism. This self-perceived exceptionalism dates back to the
16th century, when all foreigners were expelled and contacts with the
outside world severed. The case for exceptionalism stresses the
exclusivity of Ethiopia’s religions and historical trajectory; and no
less, the uniqueness of the nation’s cultures, diets, script and
national spirit — what Ethiopian progressives of the ’60s called psychological
makeup. And for centuries, the Davidian defense of this exceptionality
had been the principal — acclaimed and romanticized — national aim.
Akin to historical Israel, which had multiple languages and 12 tribes
(ethnicities), Ethiopia, too, has always been a multi-ethnic and
multi-linguistic entity. More than 15 languages flourished at the core
of Axum between the third and the sixth centuries, the height of the
Kingdom’s power and prestige. But as in Israel, where the collective
case of exceptionalism and national will was expressed chiefly through
one language, Hebrew; Ethiopia’s collective ethos invariably had to be
dominantly expressed through one language—first, Geez; and later,
Amharic. Charges of Amhara chauvinism conveniently discount this
colossal historical fact.
But that the stories that accurately describe modern Ethiopia are
complicated is also true. Neither do we live in historical times, with
their limited standards and expectations; but rather, we now inhabit a
sophisticated, modern world with heightened standards and
expectations. And not only Ethiopia’s politics but the core of the
collective ethos must adjust to the changed times and circumstances.
And in fairness to Ethiopia’s contemporary elites, old and new
(barring the disingenuous Machiavellian leaders of the EPRDF), that
adjustment, in the form of support for multi-culturalism and thriving
Federalism (as opposed to the two-decade centralization of the EPRDF),
is virtually unanimous. Ethiopia’s multi-culturalism is not only
acknowledged and celebrated, but a broad consensus has emerged for the
state’s role in its preservation and cultivation. This is
unprecedented in Africa, where indigenous cultures are being
uncontroversialy undermined; and thus, perhaps, stands as an
additional case for Ethiopia’s claim to a unique historical
trajectory.
As to Haile-Mariam’s specific case, Tsegaye’s insincere charges
notwithstanding, his ethnicity, however historically victimized,
should not protect him from legitimate criticism. He should be held to
the very standards we hold other public officials. And gauged by that
standard, he fails miserably. There is a story behind his public
façade of the heir-apparent. There lurks the true tales of conspiracy
and greed. And, far more menacingly, danger to our nation.
With Putin’s Russia serving as the role model, Haile-Mariam, who has
no power base in the party, government or the security apparatuses,
has been slated to play the Medvedev role in post 2015-Ethiopia, where
Meles will, if all goes according to plan, continue to call the shots
from behind the scenes. As a “Southerner” in a nation without a
Southern people, Haile-Mariam has no recourse but rely on the goodwill
of Meles.
