|
Gorfu’s
Unlearnt Lessons A
Response by a Former “Monster Tamer” By Yared Tibebu Introduction I made it a
habit these days to
visit the TPLF run Walta web page, to read into the minds of the
status-quo and
its supporters. What is amazing is most write in pen names and a few
others use
initials as if the people have prisons and will throw them into one. It
seems
they have no confidence in what they write, and deeply bothered by
their
slavery, and felt the need to hide behind pen names and initials. It is
an
irony to observe a group that supports a government that has 250,000
army troops,
tens of prisons and concentration camps, and Of all the pen coolies who post on Walta, Gorfu is the exception to the rule and willing to lend his good name and his excellent command of the English language to save a regime that “shot its feet”, to use his own words, a tyranny that opted to lame duck to its symmetry afflicted with the worst disease known to mankind, the disease of nascent fascism that Gorfu helped to uncover in his seminal work “Gorfu Contra Nietzsche”. I found G.E. Gorfu’s “The Democratic Process in Ethiopia – LESSONS TO BE LEARNED” unsubstantiated, short on facts, heavy on allegations, and to a good degree hyped TPLF propaganda inserted in the midst of a seemingly independent observer’s façade. The purpose of my article is to display the falsehood of the allegations, and to help shade light on some of the oppositions’ documents that are consciously buried by our “Contra Nietzsche” philosopher. Since I set out to respond to all his allegations, I ask for forgiveness for the lengthy nature of my article. Gorfu has taken his time to share his “Lessons to be Learnt” from the May election and its aftermath, but failed to capture my thoughts through his seemingly balanced presentation of events and analysis; the philosopher I admired has failed to live to my expectation. I said seemingly balanced because unlike those EPRDF supporters who write under Oromo pen names or initials, he seems not to have taken guidance from the Prime Minister. And as a result is willing to admit some of the excesses of the government by drawing “Lesson Six: No matter how provocative the opposition leadership, however destructive the mobs, the responses by the government were harsh, far too harsh”. What
To do With Former Dergue Officials? With the exception of this “criticism” of harsh response by the government, all the previous five lessons were either how to “disqualify and eliminate” former Dergue officials from participating in the democratic process, including those “undesirable elements” who believed in taking “power by any means necessary”. The first category is clear, but as to the second it is left to mystery as Gorfu is not willing to point finger at specific social forces or political parties. One can presuppose that he meant the CUD, but for those of us who have followed the pre-election debates and the post election debacle closely, we are unable to get press releases, interviews, or even utterances where the CUD publicly or otherwise disclosed such interests. If Gorfu cannot produce such a document then it will make it clear to the world that he is banking on the TPLF propaganda, which says that we lost the election because the Amharas feel they are ordained to rule Ethiopia for ever, and that is why the CUD won a land slide victory in the capital and most big cities and rural towns. What makes Dergue officials targets of scrutiny to curb their constitutional right after fourteen years of EPRDF rule is not intelligible and harsh by any democratic standards, and Gorfu failed to help us understand. Those Dergue members who were found guilty by the Ethiopian courts have lost their rights, and the election laws have provisions for them. But if Gorfu’s contention is to restrict the right of Ethiopians who have served their country during the Dergue’s rule in a ministerial capacity like the CUD chairman Hailu Shawul and one of its senior executives, namely Dr. Hailu Araya from Tigray, then that will only reflect bad on the democratic credential of Gorfu himself. If truth is to be told, there are more politicians and technocrats who were members of the former regime serving the TPLF, than the opposition. Gorfu also asserts that there are former Dergue members in the Opposition, but failed to name even one; even though those Dergue members who are not found guilty by Ethiopian courts have constitutional rights to participate in the political life of their country. Rules
of the Game I have no problem with lesson two, and Gorfu asserts “political parties should focus on policy mistakes of the government”, but even there the opposition was not at fault. The first three debates went fine, and it was focused on shortcomings of government policy. But when the government saw that it is loosing ground in the debates it resorted to insults by calling the opposition as anti-democratic, by limiting direct public participation in questioning of the debaters etc. Since Gorfu’s understanding of events seems to be otherwise I challenge him to bring the evidence that supports his contention. The ruling party and the Hibret were not ready for the debate, but by contrast the CUD was well prepared, effective, and dominated the scene leading to its strong showing on the election. Gorfu draws lesson three as “Political parties that participated in the elections cannot turn around several days or weeks after the election and declare they have no confidence in the Electoral Board”. It is amazing Gorfu never heard that the issue of the Electoral Board was not raised before the contentious outcome of the election, and that it was an issue ever since EPRDF came to power. There were even bilateral talks between the EPRDF government and the UEDF (HIBRET) on this very issue. And since an understanding couldn’t be reached, HIBRET was not confident a free and fair election can be held. Partly that contributed to its ill preparedness during the debates and for its poor showing in the election, for it couldn’t make a decision until late April to participate in the election without leveling the playing field. As to CUD, it also believed a free and fair election is not possible, and supported all the demands of the UEDF (HIBRET), but unlike the HIBRET it decided that it doesn’t have the popular support to squeeze reform from EPRDF, and decided to widen the democratic space by participating in the election process without putting any pre-conditions. But all along CUD made it clear
to the public
that the Electoral Board is in the pocket of the Prime Minister, and
that the
people should be vigilant to protect their ballot. One thing has to be
told
here as well, that unlike most or all opposition politicians, Hailu
Shawul had
that rear understanding that despite the Election Board’s partisan
stance, Election
Day will crown the people with their votes. He was alone in his belief
that despite
heavy irregularities, the opposition will win the day, because the
support to
the opposition is so much, it is hard for the government to change the
outcome
of the election just by irregularities alone. No body believed him
until late
into the final days. Berhanu Nega on his What
really happened? On election day, with early
returns of counts it
became clear that EPRDF is loosing in all constituencies with the
exception of
Tigray, and the Prime Minister believed that what Hailu Shawul was
saying all
along was right, and a simple irregularity of vote rigging will not
save the
day. Meles believed that vote counts should be stopped in rural
districts where
there are no International observers. He gave the signal through the
unconstitutional emergency measure he declared on the Capital on
election
night. May be it is proper here to enter a personal anecdote. I have a friend from Tigray whom I admire so much, and our friendship goes all the way to the Emperor’s days, and in comradeship through our participation in the February revolution and beyond. He was also a staunch supporter of multi-national politics and an ardent opponent of the TPLF. Lately, whenever we discuss politics, instead of concentrating on the brutality of the Government he resorts to the “service” Hailu Shawul gave to the Dergue or the number of former military officers in the CUD, or Dr. Hailu Araya’s closeness to the former dictator, Mengistu Haile Mariam. I can feel his fear for the safety of Tigrayans outside the Tigray kilil, and that his change of heart resulted from this fear. But what is the ground for this fear? Is it real or imagined? Does it matter even if the fear is imagined? Isn’t perception reality these days? Why would a Tigrayan elite succumb to victimizing himself to TPLF’s propaganda of the famous “Intra-Hamwe” charge? How come in a country where there were no more schools and hospitals in Menz and Yifat compared to Tigray, during the Emperor’s period and yet we took a stance on Amhara hegemony based on linguistic and cultural domination; and now under the dark nights of TPLF rule where EFFORT’s “endowment” is responsible to Tigray’s lop-sided development, and any talk of this imbalance is construed as “anti-Tigrayan”? Why a Tigrayan Ethiopian is willing to directly link any opposition to TPLF as inherently against the people of Tigray? What option are we given by such utterances? Do we have to subdue ourselves to minority rule fearing that the Tigray elite would go under the wing of Meles? Why wouldn’t an educated Tigrayan come out in the open and condemn the regime’s atrocities, and build bridges with other victims? Why stop at “too harsh”, and not being willing to see the forest instead of the trees? Is
There A “Tutsi Syndrome”? Two weeks ago I met a
well-respected Ethiopian
political scientist who resides in On Lesson 4 Gorfu alleges “The
same political
party leaders that were jubilant a day or two after the results were
first
announced, and said: “We won far more than what we thought we would…”
were
turning around to say the votes were rigged, and would not accept any
of the
results altogether”. Gorfu is not
specific as to which political leader said what he quoted, but I do not
see a
problem in being jubilant about a total victory in Addis and rejecting
the
“day-light robbery” in the rural districts. I remember calling Addis on
Election
Day and talking to the CUD leadership member Dr. Shimellis Tekle
Tsadik, and
him reporting that there was irregularity in one district in Addis
where Lidetu
faced against Genet Zewdie, and ballot papers were found with lines of
EPRDF
candidates already checked, and that Berhanu brought the case to the
Electoral
board and the observers and the problem was settled amicably. He also
mentioned
of consistent reports coming from On
Unseating the Government with Public Unrest Gorfu’s fifth lesson reads: “Foul mouthing the government and/or the PM will accomplish nothing. Diplomatic language often goes a lot further than a crude utterance. Instead of stating: “We will unseat the government by civil disobedience and public unrest…,” (which can be interpreted as an incitement to riot, an uprising, and treason,)”. Since the victims of the treason charges are CUD leaders, here as well Gorfu may need to help us who among these arrested leaders talked about “unseating the government with public unrest”. Gorfu found it safe to totally ignore the various demands that the CUD put together starting from, “Let the wishes of the Ethiopian people be respected” to “forming a transitional reconciliation government that includes the EPRDF” and finally showing willingness to “participate in parliament if party members and supporters are freed from prisons and an institution is established to guarantee free and fair election in 2010 and guarantee of public media access to the opposition”. Every step of the way it was Meles who didn’t want to share power, who didn’t want to open a way for the political impasse, and who instigated the youth into action to pre-empt and frustrate a peaceful stay-home strike. And even this stay-home strike was called, not to “unseat the government” as Gorfu alleges, but to force it to come to its senses and allow to free political prisoners, and the formation of an institution that guarantees the fairness of the next election. Where is the treason? Even if an individual in the CUD leadership uttered what you alleged, why should that be more important than the documents that were produced by the party to open the political impasse created by the post-election crisis? How come you cannot see the Prime Minister’s tactics to stay in power at any cost, and his machinations at creating a tense atmosphere that ended in blood bath? Actually the CUD said what you recommended as “We have no desire or intention to overthrow the government. All we want is for the results of the election to be verified and the wishes of the Ethiopian people to be respected, and towards that end, we are going to call the public to join us in a peaceful demonstration…” But after making the same call that you recommended here the CUD even scaled down its demands and decided to join parliament if 873 of its party members are freed and the next election is guaranteed of its fairness. Is this treasonous, my friend? To directly quote from one of the CUD documents, in the twelve paged “Call for Peaceful Struggle” it reads: “the objective of the struggle should not be aimed at controlling state power. The long term objective of this struggle is the formation of a lasting democratic order. Its short term objective is to force the EPRDF government to accept the CUD eight point preconditions and to defend the rights guaranteed by the constitution and to build institutions that are allowed within the constitution that help promote the establishment of a democratic order.” [Translation mine] How better can one express ones interest in peace and working within the provisions of the constitution? You said “Calling for riots is
illegal”. Have riots
happened? YES. Has the CUD called for riots? NO. Did police action
against some
cab drivers instigated youth action, and wide spread protest? YES. Is
CUD
responsible for the action of the youth? NO. Is Meles responsible for
the
action of the Police and the Special Forces and their carnage? YES. This will bridge us to Gorfu’s sixth lesson. “Provocative”
Opposition?
We started with lesson six to give Gorfu his only “criticism” of the government a prominence. But even that one lesson runs short of fuel, because it criticizes the government after demolishing the opposition as “provocative”. Gorfu asks “Why was it necessary for so many lives to be sacrificed?” and enumerates the supply needed to police a civilian protest. But before he goes too far in his questioning, Gorfu felt the urge to pledge allegiance to the flag of the TPLF, and in a very rude cadre fashion just two lines after posing that needed question he “pukes” on our martyrs saying “Most of the dead and wounded, in all likelihood, were unemployed youth and street urchins and hooligans, and not political operatives, or party members of the opposition.” The Philosopher who cautions opposition leaders about the problem of “foul mouthing” the PM, about the need for “soft speech”, and “taming the lion” felt the need to show arrogance, and meanness to the dead. Since when Job Resumes have become important to value human lives? What would he have felt, if an Ethiopian uttered “most of the dead were hungry peasants” in response to the Dergue’s massacre of Hawzen residents in the late 80s? After denigrating the dead in the new TPLF fashion, Gorfu immediately recommends that “the government should take full responsibility for its failure. The Prime Minister should have immediately fired the Minister of Internal Security and/or the Chief of Police, even better – both. That could help begin the healing process”. It is clear that Gorfu hasn’t understood why things happened the way they did. After the 2000 student demonstrations and the killing of forty some citizens, the Western allies of the government believed that shortage of police supplies and modern training is lacking, and as a result But, Meles is a student of Enver Hoxha and an ardent supporter of Albanian communism until he rose to state power in 1991. And as an Albanian admirer he has learnt his message from the fall of the Albanian Labor party. Meles knows that the very year he ascended to power; the Albanian Labor Party “won” in the rural districts 83% of the votes, but lost in the Capital Tirana. For the Democratic Party that took power in the capital, it took only two months to change the equation and pull down the communist party from power. A study on the event reads: “The communists managed to retain control of the government in the first round of elections under the new constitution, but fell two months later during a general strike. A committee of "national salvation" took over but also collapsed in half a year. In 1992 Communists were trumped by the Democratic Party in national elections”. Meles has learnt his lesson and he wouldn’t have allowed the CUD to take over Addis as long as he is alive. He knew Addis was his death nail that will crucify his political life. As far as I am concerned, and knowing the TPLF and their leaders at close range, these students of He made his decision on May 15th, and nothing would have forced him to change his mind. Hence when one studies at the post-election June and November killings, the solution is not as Gorfu recommends for “The Prime Minister should have immediately fired the Minister of Internal Security and/or the Chief of Police, even better – both. That could help begin the healing process.” NO! Gorfu you are off the mark. Firing the Police chief is not the solution. Dismantling minority rule, and creating a political space for the 38 parliamentarian candidates from Tigray that includes the PM in roles commensurate with their delegation, and deal with the “Tutsi Syndrome” altogether by finding an avenue where ethnicity based politics will not lead to such an impasse we find ourselves in today, is the real solution. Meles is the culprit, and firing his lieutenants who took order from him cannot “begin the healing process”. International
Assistance – Do We Need It? Lesson
Seven is on the mark and I applaud Gorfu for
his foresight. No sane Ethiopian wants an For the
first time Gorfu cited his source properly,
but he would have benefited here if he had quoted other CUD leaders, to
demonstrate their change of heart. Hailu was clear from the very
beginning. He
had understood early that the fate of his country depends in the hands
of its
people, and has worked earnestly to get their support; and got what he
asked.
Hailu has organized the Afar, Amahara, Oromo and Gorfu
wouldn’t even stop at quoting Hailu. He chose
to ridicule him by saying “Actually, it is not lip service. Watch their
lips,
and you will see that they really mean it. The Hailu
never asked the West to come and organize the
people for him, he even did not ask for funds to help organize his
party. He is
demanding that the Ethiopian people’s vote be respected both by Meles
and his Western
allies. At a time when the aid still flows unhindered, and the debt
cancellation is executed according to schedule, dear Philosopher you
are crying
“They already cut aid down”. Listen to me my friend; a new day will
dawn on On
the Opposition’s Ethnic Politics Gorfu asserts “Having accused the government of ethnic politics, however, the opposition took ethnic politics to the worst possible phase by openly dividing people into ethnic groups… For the opposition to instruct their followers to target “EPRDF supporters” for boycotts and other attacks is ethnic politics at its ugliest” Are you sure? Has the CUD targeted Tigrayans for boycott? Where did you get this misinformation? Who said EPRDF supporters are only Tigrayans? Do you believe in that? To put the record straight let me roughly translate what the CUD action document calls for. Under section V, sub heading “The objective of the struggle and measures to be taken” it reads: “The over all direction of the struggle is legal and peaceful, and non-confrontational, and one that always leaves room for compromise and direct talks”. Under ‘economic boycott” the document reads “Our first measure is to cut all types of relations with EPRDF commercial entities. In light of this, we call upon all freedom and democracy loving citizens to stop all relations with the following EPRDF businesses indefinitely. For example, Guna, Dinsho, Wondo, Dashen Brewery, Mega etc.” Under a
sub heading called “Consolidation Measures”
it reads: “In response to the community’s peaceful method of struggle,
if the
government resorts to using force, and if this creates polarization,
(for
example if the government arrests opposition leaders), the economic
boycott
will affect other non-EPRDF commercial entities that work in collusion
with
EPRDF. And the list of these entities will be prepared ASAP and made
public
when needed. If the situation deteriorates, this boycott will target
development units of the government as well”. Mr. Philosopher, where is
the
targeting of Tigrayans that you found revolting? Do you know that Guna
and
Dashen are the properties of the “endowment” wing of the “Amhara
National
Democratic movement”? Do you know Dinsho belongs to the Kilil party of On the issue of federalism as well you got the whole thing wrong. I just have to leave it at that by informing you to read the CUD Manifesto that is the basis of its political action. CUD stands for federalism, and has the support of non-Amaharas for its policies. Do you know the CUD garnered more support and more candidates to the national parliament than a Southern party led by Dr. Beyene Petros? Why do you think that happened? Is it because as you asserted “To the opposition Federalism is a cover for ‘divide and rule’ ” The CUD has no issue with Federalism, its issue is with ethnic federalism. A federalism that strengthens unity within diversity was/is/and will be acceptable to CUD; and that is why it won more seats than a Southern opposition party.
On
Breaking the Law On Lesson ten, the Philosopher is at his worst. He asserts the ban on civil liberties on Election night was, “…until all results from various distant regions could come in, counted and tallied…” But contrary to Gorfu’s assertion President Carter is on record saying “Meles has told me that he ordered the ban to control his party’s reaction to the electoral defeat in Addis”. But in reality it was a salvo for insurrection to attack the ballots in rural districts and take over the people’s voice. It was an assault on the democratic aspiration of our people. And besides Mr. Gorfu has no ground to say, “Why was it necessary to hurry up and go on demonstrations just to oppose the ban and break the law? Opposition leaders can now look back and see if they gained anything by that move. What would they have lost if they had waited a month or two? When the opposition group defied the government by going on demonstrations, the government followed suite. First, it gave a green light for the capital of Oromia to come into Addis, it then announced tax reductions for Addis, and finally raised the minimum number of parliament members to bring an issue into the daily agenda for discussion to 51%. This last one clearly, is overkill and draconian.” Where did you get the information that the opposition went on demonstration to “oppose the ban and break the law”? Has the CUD or for that matter the HIBRET called the June demonstrations? Who said a free people will not go on strikes and demonstrations unless otherwise instructed by political parties? The June demonstrations were free acts of the citizenry that were held despite repeated calls by the opposition to the contrary. Then why do you bank on this to legalize the action of the government as a tit for tat response initiated by the oppositions’ interest to “break the law”? As a philosopher who debunked Nietzsche as the surrogate for Nazi ideology, how come you cannot appreciate the free will of a people that dies to spring out of darkness, and in its impetuosity couldn’t wait for more than two weeks to hear the results of the election? Why a democratic individual would find this offensive, and uses this “impetuosity” of the people to legalize death and destruction by government forces? Isn’t erring on the side of the people, the basic democratic instinct one should have? How did you loose it Mr. Philosopher?
On
Respecting The law Lesson
Eleven is “Have respect for the law” and Gorfu
brings the 2000 Lesson
twelve is “However small, consolidate and
capitalize on your achievements. Take in every step and keep on moving
forward…They
wanted all or nothing, and ended up getting nothing. Now they can look
back and
see what a great mistake they made, and what a wonderful opportunity
was lost.
The proverb: “Yekotun awerd bla yebibitwan talech” says it all”. For an
intellectual of Gorfu’s stature, he must have been reading only TPLF
literature
to come to such unbelievable conclusion. One wonders if he has read
CUD’s eight
point demands to enter parliament or the joint CUD/HIBRET
communiqué to form a
transitional reconciliation government with EPRDF. Since these
documents will
undermine his strategy of implicating the opposition as “childish”,
“impatient”,
and what not, he found it acceptable to totally ignore even their very
existence. Gorfu, you write with superb mastery of the language, but
also with
superb mastery of dishonesty. Why wouldn’t you at least talk about the
documents and then tore them to pieces? You can even acknowledge their
existence, and enumerate your reasons for not delving into them and not
referring to them by citing some “cultural” reason. You can say they do
not
reflect the spirit of the movement and they are just there to mislead
the
International observers. And you may have ground to assert that because
you
started with the notion that the opposition believes that it is
ordained by God
to rule Gorfu sums it up by saying “After all, the leadership in office had to struggle for some seventeen years before they toppled the Derg Regime. One needs to have that type of patience in order to replace them in a peaceful way.” That is what the EPRDF cadres started saying when they saw that the opposition was amassing support as a result of the pre-election debates. It was common for them to say “we haven’t sacrificed 65,000 of our comrades to end up loosing power to some con artists who can play with words and confuse the people to support them”. If victory is not to be crowned through competition on the market place of ideas, then how are we to have a peaceful transfer of power that you eloquently put in your conclusion? Even if we agree with you that only the TPLF or for that matter the EPRDF was the only force to have struggled against the Dergue, shouldn’t the fourteen years struggle against the EPRDF good enough to take over power from them? You counseled “One needs to have that type of patience in order to replace them in a peaceful way”. How many years is patient enough for the opposition to show maturity in your eyes? Is another three more years enough, so that the TPLF will have the same number of years as the Dergue? Or is it until the Tigrayan elite feels safe to retire? How much patience is needed Mr. Philosopher? How much? Dear Gorfu, you have given Meles credit for “introducing these democratic processes”. Even though it is hard to give full credit for the government for the state of quasi-democracy that existed in the last fourteen years, partly it was the existence of the independent press and civil societies like the Ethiopian Economists Association that contributed to the awakening of the Ethiopian people. If absolute military rule was ousted in 17 years, it should be understandable if “a sometimes authoritarian regime” as the West analysts call it, is ousted in fourteen years. And it is for this same reasons, Meles is cracking down on the Independent press, to elongate the dark nights of his rule. In a country where a quasi-democratic regime was maintained for fourteen long years, if the people rise to change a minority government, then that should not be construed as “impetuous” and “childish”. Here it may be helpful to cite
Sakallo Alchaye’s
observation on the election at length. In his pscho-anlysis work
entitled “ “ The history of
Caribbean slavery, as narrated
by Glenn Sankatsing in his seminal article entitled, "People's Vote
Compatible With People's Fate: A Democratic Alternative to Liberal
Democracy", (Anton de Kom University
of Suriname, 2004)
however demystifies this defeatist tenet that only serves the status
quo and
the vague concept of mentality, nobody cares to define with precision. Inspired
by the Last Supper Jesus offered for His disciples and the attendant
rituals
performed by Him, a devout planter in colonial In a span
of minutes, the master accomplished what decades of suffering and
pauperization
in cruel slavery was unable to achieve among those docile slaves. Slave 'mentality', whatever it may mean,
evaporated
on the spot by awareness with less than half an hour of incubation time. Here history dramatically shows that one can
only dominate people by controlling their minds, their thoughts and
their
consciousness. It also provides the
valuable lesson that under the weight of harsh reality avenues exist to
trigger
awareness on short notice. Accumulated
frustration and hopelessness alone are not enough, but there comes a
point that
naked reality can overwhelm the strongest discourse.
Time is then ripe for the minds and energies
of people to be liberated, by watching the conditions of their own
reality,
unmitigated by false narration. As
Jean-Paul Sartre observed when unmasking false narratives in the
aftermath of
slavery in the "Our victims know us by their scars and their
chains,
and it is this that makes their evidence irrefutable." [Jean-Paul
Sartre's
Foreword to Frang Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, 1973, p.12] Thus evidence turned into action always triggers
the motor
of history, effecting, most often, fundamental political and social
changes in
a society. In a
similar vein, the
events that preceded the third national elections in Ethiopia created a
sudden
upsurge and a great awareness among the masses regarding the need for a
genuine
and peaceful democratic transition and a more meaningful and
income-generating
economic development in the country, a yearning for better living
standards and
a modicum of safety and security, for positive, economic, political and
social
changes, for the protection of human rights and for the prevalence of
good
governance and the rule of law. The role
played by the media, especially by the state media, in this regard has
been
incredible and invaluable, to say the least.” On
“Taming” The “Monster” You wrote:” Transferring
Political Power,
figuratively speaking, is like taking meat from the mouth of a lion, or
The
Leviathan, – a monster. It takes a skilful lion tamer, with a soft and
charming
voice, and an endless capacity for patience. We need a charismatic
leader with
these qualities.” Through your many articles in the past you never
helped us to
characterize the Meles regime as a “monster”, but here you are in the
final
days of an ailing regime, trying to teach us to “speak softly with a
charming
voice”. I am sure you were party to the discussions of the Diaspora, as
to the
method of struggle proper to effect transfer of power in Despite the regime’s monitoring of their leadership meetings and debates, and despite leakages of these debates for “Joro Tebi” news papers like the IFTIN, the CUD leadership continued its peaceful and legal meetings in its headquarter believing that it has nothing to hide. How more “taming” can one be? How more “charm” can one display? Is it the defiant tone of Hailu Shawel that irritates you? It is true his tone was defiant, but his language was always measured, but never opportunistic. It was Ethiopian. Dear Philosopher, do you know that Nixon was forced to leave office because he broke into the Democratic Party office at the Watergate? Do you know how many times the TPLF broke into CUD’s offices at night, before the election? One happened in March, while I was in Addis. Is listening to the leadership meeting of a legal party using electronic devices “democratic” to you? You said “Belligerence will not accomplish much”. Can you see now who was belligerent all along? Is this what you call “the democratic process”? Your lion has changed into a hyena, and your recommendation of a “lion tamer” will not work. The hyena regime of Meles Zenawi is challenging the Ethiopian lions for the final show down. And show down we will, for we are cornered against the wall, and we are not given any option. On
The Power Base Of The Opposition The last lesson you draw is “Know
your power
base, its weaknesses, and limitations… The opposition had its main
hopes set on
support from European powers, the Taking lessons from the 1974 February Revolution you said “Only the army had the power and the means to unseat him, and unseat him they did. That is the stubborn reality of power politics”. On the one hand you ask for patience and demand for skills to tame the “monster”, and on the other your WOYANE “HABO” will engulf you and look down upon the Ethiopian people with disdain and ask “WENE ALEKHUM DO?” You have to make a choice; you cannot have it both ways. On the one hand you say “This PM, however, has repeatedly stated his commitment to the democratic process, and one needs to give him the benefit of the doubt.” But on the other, you instruct us on how to “tame” a “monster”, on how to speak “with a soft charming voice” that wouldn’t affect the sensibilities of a treasonous Prime Minister? You want to be Meles’ cheer leader and at the same time keep your integrity. You are trying the impossible. Make your choice my friend. I have been where you are now, before May 15. I believed in “taming” the “monster” and in speaking “with soft charming voice”. If you can read Amharic, try to read some of my articles over the last 15 years. On the night of May 15, when Meles came out on state TV and decreed the curbing of civil liberties and declared victory even before the counts were consummated, I cast my doubts. When he went on a killing rampage on June 1st, while throwing a lavish graduation party for his daughter, I wrote “ALKISHE ZIM KEMIL”, and still hoped he might come to his senses and allow a free and fair recount and re-election. But when he said no to CUD’s eight point preconditions to enter parliament, and unleashed the November assaults on my people, he crossed the Rubicon. Now, for me and millions others who awakened before me, Meles is the enemy. He has started a civil war, whose fire will burn him to death. We have no choice but to join. Conclusion Parties like CUD will continue the old way and still try to “tame” the monster, for they are committed in their strategy, and I wish them success. But for folks like me, who have learnt their lessons from the dastardly act of the Meles regime, we prefer to answer to his call and join the fight. Then we will see, if the army you throw your hope so much on will have the strength to stand the army of the people, the army of the future, the constitutional army that springs from the will of a people whose aspiration is dashed in its attempt to transform its hope into a peaceful reality. It is proper here to thank all those who sacrificed with their lives, and forced to live in concentration camps, to show to the world and to all peace loving Ethiopians that the “monster” is not willing to be “tamed”, but impetuously calling for the final show down and ready to be slaughtered. Those who have the courage and stamina shouldn’t waver on this. For wavering is lethal. Dear Philosopher, I found your mission and all those who write on Walta using Oromo pen names and initials, that your main objective is to make people have doubts, to make them waver. But the actions of the Meles regime are as clear as the day light, and there are no hidden lessons to be learnt. There is only one lesson, and that lesson is that the “monster” is not willing to be “tamed”, and relies heavily on its special forces and its prisons. By his arrogant and schizophrenic act Meles has simplified the task. We need no political programs, no manifestos, no new political alliances and fronts. WHAT WE NEED IS A SINGLE CONSTITUTIONAL ARMY BACKED BY ALL POLITICAL FORCES, WHICH PAVES THE WAY FOR A FREE ETHIOPIA, WHERE ALL NATIONAL AND MULTI-NATIONAL POLITICAL FORCES PEACEFULLY COMPETE TO WIN STATE POWER. That is the only lesson drawn from the bestial act of the regime since May 15. Yared Tibebu
resides in |