The problems and solutions for the situation both Asegedech Mekonnen and Dr. Fekadu Bekele are addressing in their commentaries is now, present day Ethiopia. How they went about it is like the student and the engineer.
It is easy to say everything is bad. It is also easy to say everything has to go. This is the easiest route and the most ideal theoretical passage to get an A. Safe. What is needed is not to score a grade but to do the job. Is one addressing an academic paper to audience or a proposal for a way out of the present dilemma the country is in? It took courage on Asegedech Mekonnen’s part to come out and write it as she did. She did not look for an easy way out or take the popular route. She faced reality directly in the face and came out with a real and viable solution.
To write about the country: “…Ethiopia where complex thinking and logic are not the rule but emotion governs our attitudes and handlings …”
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To write about EPRDF: “…it does not posses any social theory. It lacks coherence and changes its tactics from time to time to make the people live in permanent fear. It is a typical ugly feudal politics colored with peripheral capitalism which demonstrates its primitiveness and uncertainty at the highest level. … To my belief the present government will go ahead with its ugly policy of divide and rule system.”
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To write: “ All in all the present opposition forces have no any organizational structures which could legitimate them to seize political power” and “They are more interested in seizing power than bringing a science driven technological development.”
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To write about the opposition forces dilemma as: “feudalistic perception of social and political situation”
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To write: “Still today we witness that the so-called educated Ethiopians become irritated when one begins to challenge their ideas and instead of listening gently and bring their own arguments scientifically they try to divert the attitude of their followers. …Their eyes become red, their hairs become straight, their heads become hot and their blood starts boiling. …What we mean and what we think are not compatible with each other.”
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Then to quote from the Greeks and write: “Not Gods determine how human beings live in this world, but human beings themselves are the masters of their fates. By observing the universe and the paths of the planets, they came to the conclusion that human beings could shape their lives in accordance to the harmonious universe. Therefore wars, destruction and permanent dislocation are not natural but they arise from wrong beliefs.”
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Then to remark: “A ruling class which is not guided by a defined political philosophy and which is not in a position to find new ways of political handlings which are suit to new situations, it will not have another fate other than being overthrown.”
is not enough.
I am for EPRDF to go away and a democratic government to be established. How to do that is the homework. There are three options available.
The three available options are:
1) Overthrow EPRDF and establish a democratic government
2) Sit down and wait for EPRDF to give up its power on its own free will and then establish a democratic government
3) Make the priorities of the country first and foremost and establish a transition period where the EPRDF, the organized opposition forces, every political group, every organized mass group, and everyone that can contribute to lift the country out of this quagmire participates and then go to establish a democratic government.
As Dr. Fekadu Bekele correctly stated and Asegedech Mekonnen earlier started in her commentary: “… as citizens of a very backward country we have the historical and moral responsibility to choose the correct paradigm which helps us to understand social relationships and political events so that we could give correct analysis and solve existing problems.”
The right question is where do we go from here?
Let us see in a little bit detail the three options that are available:
The first one is not new and it has a lot of appeal. First of all we have a precedent to follow and hence it does not require deep thinking to come up with the idea. As long as others die or are available to die it is easy. By the way I have to lead it. I have to state my own agenda. I have to choose what is good for the country. I will be the accuser, the judge, the jury, and the police to execute the sentence of who is the enemy of the country and the people.
Wonderful!
Wait a minute!
Who is this “I”?
Is this Emperor Haile Sellassie and his family?
Is this Colonel Mengistu and Derg?
Is this Meles and TPLF?
Or is this the next “bale tera”?
Do we want to go the same route that we have taken so far?
What is the consequence of this? Who is going to die? What has been solved so far? What progress has been achieved? Progress? What progress?
I wonder who chooses this route!
Assuming this is chosen, how practical is it? Again who is going to die? How much destruction is Ethiopia able to withstand? What do we know of the “bale tera”? What makes the “bale tera” any better than the previous “bale terawoch”? Does it have a history that we can look and say “Yes this one is the right one, it will not be like the others we had, and it is democratic?”
Let us see the second option:
This one is a dream come true but it is more than a dream, it is a miracle. The problem is I do not believe in miracles and like the Greeks that Dr. Fekadu Bekele elaborately thought us I too believe that: “human beings themselves are the masters of their fates.” For one thing I have not read or experienced this phenomenon in the last three governments. Meles has no interest in stepping down from power. TPLF has no wish to relinquish its position. In general Meles and his group have a lot to loose if they give an inch from this comfortable chair. They think they are in control, like the Emperor thought and like Mengistu thought. There is no difference in the thought process once you are in power and you really believe you are untouchable. The problem is your glasses are distorting the facts and there is nothing that will change your thinking but REALITY and well, you are immune to that until it leaves you behind. The thinking process is a function of the power position you are in.
Let us assume Meles and EPRDF give up power. What is going to happen and how is going to happen?
So far my last two analyses put me in the same position as Dr Fekadu Bekele’s. Unlike Dr. Fekadu Bekele however I understand the contribution of the Ethiopian student movement in the 60’s, 70’s, and currently going on. It came at a time when political struggle was getting out of family feud and feudal dispute and shaped and defined the struggle for democracy. It helped most understand who we are, what our historical responsibility was. Dr. Fekadu Bekele correctly put it: “… the Ethiopian education system … was not designed in such a way so that it could give us the power of thinking to observe our natural surrounding and become creative in order to build a new Ethiopia. It has neither enabled us to ask ourselves why we went to schools. … The system of education was so organized that it has corrupted our minds not to understand our environments and to undermine our people.” Further he elaborated: “The education system of our country has produced many idiots like me and who again produce other idiots.” What more can one say but thanks to the Ethiopian student movement it changed that for some of us.
As far as the commentary of Asegedech Mekonnen is taken; I will jump and write that: “…Asegedech’s article is more treacherous than earnestly meant …” I will take her contribution to the discussion as I will do yours and study it. As for the solution of the problem here is an other option.
That brings us to the third option.
The third option has more steps and is complicated more than one wants. This is a necessary condition because of the route it took us to get here and the reality at hand. I may not agree to all that Asegedech Mekonnen has stated in her commentary nor do I disagree to all Dr. Fekadu Bekele wrote but I do agree that a solution that will spare the country from going any further down to chaos is to have an open mind and consider what is real, what can be done, and think outside of our limitations to face up to the task of this historical call.
Yes Meles and any opposition group member, be it inside of his own group or outside his group, inside of the country or outside, can not see eye to eye. Yes we do not have a tradition of democratically working together when you have differing opinions. Yes, yes, and yes to all that is not in our possession. The reality dictates that we come out of that mold. I have taken quotes from Dr. Fekadu Bekele’s commentary liberally and applied them throughout this article. I have simplified situations and used simple languages to express my ideas. The third option is a solution for NOW.
And here is NOW.
NOW EPRDF is in power.
The Ethiopian government is depending on foreign donations for its survival that it is bending more and more to their demands.
The Ethiopian government is doing everything it can to prolong its hold on power.
AIDS is at its most dangerous stage.
Famine is the sure thing.
Leaving the country has become a dire necessity that educated people are fleeing left and right like “awura yaTa nb”.
The organized opposition forces, with a lot of unknowns with them, are not in a position to democratically challenge EPRDF.
We have a real political problem that needs a real practical political solution. Whether one likes it or not, the solution is going to come from the Ethiopian people and by the Ethiopian people. This takes organizations. At present what is true and real is the existence of the government in power with its structure, the opposition forces, and all organized groups in whatever form they take, mainly those inside the country. This is the starting point. In one way or another, these are the players. You can not push aside the players in the political field and come up with a game. The game is played by the players. One can be a spectator or be part of the game joining the players. (I am not saying this is necessarily done by choice.) Whether one is a player or a spectator the fact that the game is played by the players does not change. I agree as both Asegedech Mekonnen and Dr. Fekadu Bekele agree that each player has short comings otherwise we could not have been in this situation.
Whether one likes it or not the problems are real, the field is not clear, the game plan is not defined, and the players are in the field. To add to the problems already known, each player brings the player’s game plan jotted down by the player’s coach or coaches. These game plans are narrow, not giving room for other contributions, guided by the interest of the player who presents it. For this one game in the field, out of many game plans there can be only one needed to be executed at one time. Unfortunately this is not the time to bring one book of tables out of one’s pocket, choose a formula that works for this situation, plug it in, and say voila! A solution is found.
A solution as Dr. Fekadu Bekele stated scientifically: “…developed by strictly observing the social construction of our society” is needed. As for the election of 2005, it will come and go and 2006 will be here with the same problem, the same EPRDF government, the same opposition forces, and tomorrow just like yesterday. Meles will not voluntarily give up power nor will he make any gestures to accommodate the opposition so that he can loose power to them. That is just a miracle.
Now is not the time to accuse each other or increment one another of being on this side or the other. There is only one reality. Both Asegedech Mekonnen and Dr. Fekadu Bekele agree to the gravity of the present political dilemma the country is in. They both described the characteristic of EPRDF and the opposition forces very well. They both want to change the present course Ethiopia is taking. What better thing to do than what both preached in their commentaries?
I agree with the following statements I took out of their commentaries:
– Empowered people will bring the nnecessary changes;
– Change of attitude in our people,, first and most those that try to help bring the change;
– Ethiopian people will develop sciience and technology in order to build a modern country;
– We will know how the world politiics and the world market are functioning;
– Our society will be guided by theeoretical and philosophical principles and will not be condemned to permanent social chaos;
Let us avoid: “Yetegebew jib hedo yeterabew meta.”
Let there be an understanding that the situation Ethiopia is in is critical. The solution is going to be extraordinary. The collaboration of EPRDF, the organized opposition forces, those opposition forces not included in the organized opposition forces, all organized groups in whatever form they take, mainly those inside the country, and any active individuals who want to contribute to the reconstruction of the country is needed. With this there will be no losers and all will be winners. This is a necessary condition for the transition to establish a formal democratic system of government where groups with opposing ideas will work together. For this to happen all stated above have to do their homework. Do you want to be part of this?
Homework for everyone: Let us bring all forces together to save Ethiopia, to bring an end to the famine, AIDS, chaos, war, destruction, in general the misery of us all. Only if all come together for the same cause will this be done. People wiser than me have means and ways to make this happen and if I can contribute in any way or shape I will be glad to.
