WASHINGTON, DC – After he was expelled last year from the opposition Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ), everyone had expected Professor Mesfin W. Mariam, the 80-year-old former human rights activist, would retire with grace.
He proved the public wrong.
If he had the public support that he claims he has, Professor Mesfin had every right to found his own party. But what he wanted was to reclaim UDJ, eventhough he was legally expelled for breaking party laws. He wanted to prove himself above the law, though he calls for the respect of law and order.
Known for his eccentricities, Professor Mesfin organized those who were expelled for disciplinary matters, and began to disrupt UDJ meetings.
Whenever he and his accomplices showed up to disrupt UDJ meetings, the state-owned media would record the showdown from start to finish, even though the same media would never cover the meetings of the opposition, or if they do, they report the reality upside down, often discrediting them.
The clear message the public learned from the state-run media and Mesfin affair is that Mesfin’s actions were indirectly backed up by the ruling party, which in its own way has been trying to destroy Medrek the way it destroyed Kinijit, the unofficial winners of the stolen 2005 elections.
Professor Mesfin and his accomplices on Wednesday tried to break into and take over the offices of UDJ/Medrek. They failed. How far would he go? Would he feel the pain of the Ethiopian people, and come back to his senses? Would he listen to the Ethiopian scholars who wrote him a letter this week? Would he heed their advice, and desist from being a tool for the regime? Time will tell.
But his actions point to two things: His fall from grace and a rare service to a regime resented by all.
Scuffle breaks out among opposition supporters
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) – Ethiopian police detained a dozen opposition party members after a scuffle broke out at the party’s headquarters.
Yeshiwas Assefa said Thursday that his splinter group went to the Unity for Democracy and Justice-Andinet (UDJ) party’s offices to take over the headquarters and then a fight broke out.
Members of the UDJ’s senior leadership could not be reached for comment.
Police confirmed to The Associated Press that 12 people were detained following the incident Wednesday but they declined to comment further. One person was later released on bail.
Ethiopia is due to hold national elections next month. Prime Minister Zenawi Meles and his party first came to power in 1991 when they ousted a Marxist dictator after a 17-year insurgency.
