Notes

By Alemayehu G. Mariam | May 23, 2010

There is an old morality tale of The Emperor’s New Clothes
about a king who is so self-absorbed, vainglorious and obsessed with his appearance
that he hired two suit makers and gave them vast amounts of money to sew him the
finest silk robes. They agreed to make the robes but warned the king that the
types of robes they make are invisible to anyone who is unfit for their official
position or hopelessly stupid. As they set out to sew their make-believe robes,
the king and his ministers would drop in from time to time and offer their
admiration for the suit makers’ craftsmanship of the invisible robes.
None would dare challenge the suit makers afraid of being called incompetent or
stupid. Finally, the suit makers dressed the king in their pretend silk robe
and marched him down the street with his courtiers to the applause and cheers
of his obedient subjects. The people could see that the king was naked but were
afraid to say so fearing his anger. A child in the crowd suddenly yelled out that
the king is naked; and the crowd began chanting: “The king is
naked!” The king cringed with shame and embarrassment, but held himself
up proudly as he continued to walk naked in the royal procession.

The tale of the naked emperor is an apt allegory for the so-called
Ethiopian election being held on May 23.  The ruling regime in Ethiopia has
been blowing its horn about an invisible “democratic election” for
over a year. They brought in the best European “election” tailors
to embroider the finest “election code of conduct.” They threatened,
cajoled, bribed and withheld food aid from the people to force them out into the
street and clap and ululate for them as they paraded themselves in their
invisible majestic robe of democratic election. Some Western and African representatives
volunteered to line up the streets cheerleading for the king. The European
Union (EU) sent a delegation of 150 observers to observe 32 million voters vote
at 43,000 polling stations in an election that was won by the ruling regime long
before it was even conceived. The African Union (AU) deployed 60 observers to
do the same in flagrant disregard of its own Elections Observation and
Monitoring Guidelines, Section V (14). Both the EU and AU boogied down at the naked
king’s parade with full knowledge that “the people who cast the votes
(and observe the votes) decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide
everything.”

Dictator Meles Zenawi prohibited diplomatic representatives
from traveling outside the capital during the “election”. He told
Al Jazeera a few days ago that it was a bad idea for diplomats to observe the
elections because it was disapproved by the Institute for Democracy and
Electoral Assistance (IDEA), the Swedish organization which helped him devise
the “election code of conduct”: “I know that some diplomats
in Addis are offended when they are told they [can not go outside Addis Ababa],
but I am sure [allowing them to travel] is not internationally [IDEA] accepted
best practice.” That is simply not
true!  It is a verifiable fact
that IDEA strongly encourages all individuals, organizations and governments who
conduct or are involved in elections to maintain openness, transparency and neutrality
because “The public will measure
the legitimacy of an election on the basis of both the actual integrity of its
administration and the appearance of integrity of the election process.”
IDEA emphatically urges “each person or organization using its code of
conduct to apply it flexibly, together with good common sense, to meet the
requirements of each situation.” By IDEA’s own standards, allowing
the diplomats to observe would be “best practice” because they
could help ensure and verify the integrity of the election process.

But Ethiopia
today stands at the crossroads of history; and as the old African saying goes,
“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you
there.” At this crossroad, Ethiopians can choose to take the right way or
the wrong way. The right way is the way of national reconciliation, compromise,
mutual understanding and tolerance. The wrong way is the way of force,
violence, brutality, threats, intimidation and persecution. Ethiopians can
choose the easy way or the hard way. The easy way is to follow and live by the rule
of law and ensure everyone’s human rights are respected and all are held
to account for their actions and omissions. The hard way is the way of dictatorship,
despotism, deceit and conceit. Ethiopians can take the high road or the low
road. The high road is the way of morality, ethical conduct, common sense and
compassion. The low road is the way of dishonesty, lies, distortions and trickery.
We can take the road to somewhere or the road to nowhere. The road to somewhere
take us to national unity, commonality of purpose, harmony, coalition-building
and cooperation. The road to nowhere takes us to ethnic division and tribal
conflict, irrational fear and hatred and needless violence and destruction. We
can take the superhighway or the dirt road. The superhighway will take us on a
wonderful journey to a brave new world of information, ideas and knowledge on
the wings of modern technology. The dirt road has a one-way ticket to dictatorship,
tyranny, darkness and ignorance. We can walk together on the united way or
remain stranded on a divided highway.  

Ultimately, we can choose the way of all our ancestors —
the Ethiopian Way — or join the way of the  ignoramuses who arrogantly proclaim that “if
it is not my way, there ain’t no way but the highway.” We must
choose the Ethiopian Way
— the way of humanity, unity, solidarity, integrity, honesty, cordiality,
empathy, fraternity and congeniality.

If we choose to take the Ethiopian Way, we must collectively make
our roadmap to get us to our preferred destination. We will need to set the
mileposts and detail out the rules of the road. We must brightly mark the
“yield” and “stop” signs together with the “no
crossing” and “danger” signs along the way. We must be
prepared to take the “the road less traveled” to get to our
destination. That is the road of tolerance, good will, broad-mindedness,
patience and understanding. We must avoid the beaten path of personal attacks, hatred
and prejudice, recriminations, accusations and pettiness. We can not begin a
new journey along the Ethiopian
Way with the old mindset: “If you
don’t agree with me in everything, you are my enemy.” We must trade
it in for a new spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood across ethnic, linguistic,
class and regional lines. We must reinvent a new mentality that substitutes the
concerns of ethnicity and partisanship with the needs of our basic humanity, our
unity in our Ethiopian nationality and our personal authenticity.

Let us use this bogus election as the impetus for the
development of a comprehensive political, economic, social and legal agenda for
Ethiopia that is based on a compelling vision of a better future for this and coming
generations. Let us cast off the shortsightedness and narrow partisanship of
the past. Let us gather ideas from all segments of society — and not just from
the intellectuals and the elites – and pursue them inclusively and
aggressively with a common sense of purpose and destiny.  If desperate times require desperate
actions, times of great opportunity such as this one require quick, bold and
determined action. Carpe diem! Let us
seize the moment and set a new course for Ethiopia.

The future is bright for Ethiopia regardless of the
already-won election of 2010. No doubt some will be disheartened and dispirited;
but it is illogical to be disappointed about an “election” outcome
that has always been a foregone conclusion. It is natural to anguish over the
loss of such a great opportunity to plant the seeds of democracy in Ethiopia. But we
must always be mindful of the fact that nothing will give the dictators greater
pleasure than having us all depressed and dejected about their
“victory” in this “election”. Their ardent wish is that
we abandon and give up the struggle for the cause of democracy, freedom, human
rights and the rule of law in Ethiopia.
But they fail to grasp a simple fact: These causes are much larger and greater
than any one election, one dictator, one party or one regime. These causes represent
the quintessential, timeless and universal yearning of all humanity in recorded
history. As the great  Nelson Mandela said, “Let freedom
reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement.” We must
never let the sun set on freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law
in Ethiopia.

As for the “election”: Let us just say that it ain’t
the votin’ that makes for a free and fair election. It is the
countin’. We sure know who will be burning the midnight oil on May 23 counting, double-counting,
triple- and quadruple-counting the same ballots to proclaim victory at the
crack of dawn on May 24. This Ethiopian election caper aside, it has been said that
a “politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next
generation.” Let us all strive to develop in earnest the true attributes
of genuine statesmanship and stateswomanship so that we may be able to help the
next generation become Ethiopia’s Greatest Generation!

Free Birtukan Midekssa
and all political prisoners in Ethiopia!

Notes