Ethiopia: struggle against the politics of deceit, terror and
tyranny
By
Asratemariam
Dec 12 2005
The Ethiopian
people are waging a legitimate struggle against a government
that is using deceit, brute force and tyranny to remain in power.
Ever since EPRDF, the ruling party came to power in1991 through
the barrel of a gun, it has led the country through a combination
of deceit, terror and tyranny. Steeped in the bizarre political
ideology of promoting ethnicity as a basis of political activity
and public administration, the tightly- knit ethnic clique has
in effect compartmentalized the country into 'bantustans"
and instituted public administration accordingly. Likewise,
it has instituted a system of economic management that uses
both principles of command and market economics to control the
production and distribution infrastructures of the country.
The fourteen years of cocktail economic management has been
unable to create significant expansion in the productive capacity
of the economy. With a population growth rate of about 2.9%/annum,
the fast increase in the size of the country's population has
been outstripping its capacity to ensure food security. Married
to a land policy that was instituted by the socialist government
preceding it, the current government could not create a conducive
business and investment environment for the flow of foreign
investment. Mass poverty and a declining standard of living
thus define the country's overall economic life.
On the political
front, EPRDF has been entrenching itself through a deliberate
policy of ethnic primordialism and factional politics. Using
Byzantine tactics, the ruling party has been systematically
weakening the possibility for the emergence of strong opposition
parties. It declared itself the winner of two earlier elections
without the participation of any opposition groups. When the
people fully recognized the sinister intentions of the ruling
party, they formed a joint front and challenged it at the polls
with outstanding results. The May 2005 election was a turning
point because it resulted in a strong showing for the opposition.
The sweeping victory of the opposition in the capital city and
other major towns of the country prompted the ruling party to
resort to its customary practice of declaring itself a winner
even before the election board made the final results public.
The current political quagmire is the result of the failure
of the ruling party to accept the verdict of the people. Since
then disturbances have claimed the lives of over 80 people and
the wounding of hundreds as a result of the barbaric and indiscriminate
use of brute force on opposition groups. The highly orchestrated
national election came to an end with the ruling party imprisoning
more than 50,000 opposition members and all their leaders.
The Ethiopian
people are thus currently fighting against EPRDF tyranny and
usurpation of legitimate power from the winners of a national
election. It is based on the criterion of self-defense against
a deceitful, conniving and defeated political group. The Ethiopian
people are tired of living as objects of manipulation, diktat
and intimidation. The quest for representative democracy has
never been easy in the modern political history of the country.
The sacrifices being paid by thousands of opposition members
through out the country are for the creation of a moral and
political community of democracy and basic human and civil rights.
The constitutional safeguards protecting the civil and human
rights of Ethiopians cannot be practical when there is a government
that is against the will of the people and the basic principles
of democracy.
It is for
these reasons that Ethiopians at home and abroad are duty bound
to intensify their struggle and hasten the self-inflicted collapse
of the EPRDF. The chances for effecting real changes under EPRDF
rule have been irreversibly closed by its own oppressive and
tyrannical procedures and practices. The party in power has
clearly demonstrated to the whole world that it is not an agent
of democratization and modernization. It is steeped in an ideology
of the 19th century in which entrenched monarchies and their
supporters meant everything. The twenty-first century has ushered
a new era of governance in which people's voices cannot be bottled
up by tyranny and brute force. Democratization is not an imaginary
political ideal. It is a lived experience in which thinking
individuals put their collective energies for the institution
of a system of governance in which fair representation, accountability,
transparency and respect for fundamental human and civil rights
are ensured and guaranteed through legal and institutional procedures
and practices. Ethiopians are tired of cruel and insensitive
dictators, groups and their internal and external lackeys.
The struggle
is bound to be long, complex and full of sacrifices because
EPRDF has been successful in creating a mirage of empowerment
of various ethnic identities and sympathizers in the international
community. The false façade that it built around
its party as one interested in democratization, development
and modernization has served the leadership well in garnering
international support over the last 14 years. The lack of sensitivity
and condemnation against the killing of innocent civilians and
the imprisonment of thousands by major western powers like the
USA, Britain and Germany is symptomatic of the success of the
current government to portray itself as a member of the coalition
against international terrorism. EPRDF leaders full well know
that their supporters and mentors in the west will not mount
major complaints against their barbaric actions. In this regard,
international actors are equally responsible for the death,
torture and mistreatment of the Ethiopian people who are currently
languishing in make-shift detention centers in Didessa, Birr
valley, Robit and countless other sites. It is unbelievable
that a government that uses terror and systematic abuse of its
own population can become an ally of a coalition against international
terror. The cries and agonies of mothers, fathers, brothers
and sisters over the death, maiming and mistreatment of thousands
of Ethiopians will not be in vain. Turning a deaf ear against
such popular pain is tantamount to conniving and participating
in the torture and violation of the human and civil rights of
all Ethiopians. The USA and UK bear special responsibility for
this sad state of affairs in Ethiopia. The lukewarm approach
and highly troubling silence from these major democratic countries
casts serious doubt about their declared commitments to the
promotion of democracy and respect for basic human and civil
rights. Human rights become a secondary concern when it comes
to fighting terrorism.
The question
now is not about whether EPRDF is pursuing democracy or not.
The Ethiopian people fully well know the answer. External actors
with an inkling of knowledge about the Ethiopian people and
their long history cannot but understand that democracy is a
commodity that has been in short supply under successive governments.
While nobody doubts the impossibility of imposing or grafting
western democracy in non-western societies, we cannot accept
an indifference to the suffering of an entire nation in the
hands of an insensitive, tyrannical and chauvinistic ethnic
clique. International actors have a responsibility to impose
both material and moral sanction against brutal dictators and
their instruments of terror and abuse.
The current
political environment in Ethiopia is at a dangerous crossroad.
It is a time to either fall further into terrible oppression
and tyranny or re-orient the country's governance in the direction
of democracy, representative governance and the respect of law
and order and constitutional guarantees of human and civil rights.
The government's trial of leaders of the opposition and its
members for treason is a clear writing on the wall about the
direction of the country. In a country where the instruments
of power, the police, security, military, judiciary and information
have become a personal fiefdom of the Prime Minister, democracy
cannot be institutionalized. Any judicial judgment passed on
the leaders and members of the opposition parties has no legality
because it is based on trumped up charges and political recrimination
by a defeated party.
In light
of the reign of deceit, tyranny and terror in our beloved country,
it is incumbent upon all well meaning Ethiopians and well-wishers
to pool their resources and efforts and shore up the gallant
fight of the democratic forces in the country. A popular struggle
cannot be muzzled by the power of the gun. The struggle is legitimate
and is aimed at instituting democracy, decency and respect for
basic constitutional guaranties for human and civil rights.
Ethiopians deserve a political leadership that respects and
promotes their democratic ideals; liberates them from mass poverty,
deprivation and abuse. Above all, they deserve a leadership
that has the unwavering interest of the country and its people
at the center of all policies, strategies and actions.
Long
live the gallant fighters for democracy, human rights and decency!!
Down with tyranny, deceit, terror and anarchy!!
