The lesser of the two evils
By Abebe Gelaw from London
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has beaten his predecessor, ex-President
Mengistu Haile-Mariam, in a free and fair cyber poll with 70.5
per cent of the votes cast for the “worst dictator”.
Mengistu failed to win the contest with just 25.6 per cent votes.
Out
of the total 1305 votes, Meles secured 920 while Mengistu could
dismally command 334 votes. The revealing nazret.com’s
poll, “Who is the worst dictator?” is indicative
of the growing popular aversion to Meles’ iron fist rule.
The Prime Minister, dubbed by some as Ethiopia’s Prime
Misery, has been engaged in bloody conflicts for the last three
decades, from 1974 to date, and masterminded a wave of repression
and killings.
Both
tyrants are blamed for the death and disability of over a million
Ethiopians as well as for the destitution and destruction of
a poor nation by unleashing endless armed conflicts and repressions.
Over 1.5 million people are believed to have perished in famines
while the duo were involved in costly power struggle.
Mengistu
and Meles followed a similar style of repression, the former
in the name of defending the revolution and the latter in the
name of defending the constitution that he has already flouted
a million times.
If
Meles and Mengistu run in a national election, it seems that
the less unpopular tyrant Mengistu Haile-Mariam will win the
polls by a huge margin. The poll is another proof that a tyrant
who can win a dictatorship contest is highly unlikely to win
a truly free and fair democratic election.
Currently
the number of political detainees at different concentration
camps in Dedessa, Zewai, Bir Sheleko, Kaliti, Denkoro Chaka,
Shewa Robit and other harsh detention facilities is estimated
to be in the region of 80,000. According to credible diplomatic
sources, Meles has repeatedly denied Western diplomats and human
rights groups access to the concentration camps after worrying
reports of mass graves, atrocities and gross human rights violations.
In
his latest whitewash report to ‘parliament’, Meles
defended his repressive actions as “legitimate.”
According to him, over 3000 youths will face trial for sedition
against what he called the constitutional order. He made it
clear that he was not ready for a dialogue with the opposition
to end the current political stalemate that has escalated since
early June following the mass detention and killings of his
dissidents. Meles has ignored international pressure for the
unconditional release of all political prisoners including leaders
of the CUD, journalists, human rights activists, students, civil
servants, lawyers and critics. In the absence of a real constitutional
order, he has now resorted to wielding the law as a weapon of
repression.
He
has unveiled a ludicrous plan to hire expensive “foreign
experts” to investigate complaints about the contentious
parliamentary procedures and codes of conduct that made it impossible
for opposition MPs to play a meaningful role. Meles also told
the house of poodles the “foreign experts” would
also look into the current use, or rather misuse, of the public
funded media.
However,
observers believe that this was another ploy aimed at deceiving
the international community. In reality, no foreign expert is
needed to investigate the obvious misuse, abuse and absolute
corruption of power. If independent foreign investigators are
needed, they should be given the onerous tasks of probing into
the alleged vote rigging scandal, massacres, mass detentions,
atrocities and gross human rights violations that are being
committed in contravention of the constitution.
Meles
put the blame for the popular quest for democracy and widespread
opposition against his tyranny on the Coalition for Unity Democracy,
the Eritrean government and the Oromo Liberation Front. He lamented
that the demonstrations in Oromia, which he referred to as uprisings,
were particularly organized by the OLF in collaboration with
“Shaebia.”
In
his lengthy rambling at the 9th regular session of the House
where some opposition MPs were forced to bear with watching
and listening to his comical performance, he said that democracy
was flourishing in Ethiopia but suggested that criticizing or
opposing his tyrannical rule was a mortal sin that could trigger
treason charges. “Various efforts have been exerted over
the past two months to realize the cause of peace along side
efforts to expedite the democratization process,” ENA
quoted him as saying.
Mengistu
Haile-Mariam believed that he was the only person born to lead
Ethiopia and capable of ‘defending’ the popular
revolution that he hijacked with his cronies. His successor
who suffers from similar delusions of grandeur has also convinced
no one but himself that whatever he does is right and those
who challenge his dictatorial rule are traitors. Meles thinks
that the reason that he tramped up treason charges against respected
patriots and held the nation hostage at gunpoint is to defend
democracy and ‘constitution.’ But he must be referring
to his unwritten constitution that has guaranteed him absolutism.
For
Meles, resistance to his tyrannical rule is treason punishable
by death. Nevertheless, one of the founding fathers of American
democracy, Thomas Jefferson, disagrees with him. According to
Jefferson, “Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.”
Ethiopians have been obeying God by putting resistance to succeeding
tyrants for far too long. As God created man in His own image,
no one has a right to take way the liberty of other fellow creatures.
Tyranny is an attempt to violate the inalienable and natural
rights God has given to all human beings. God never created
prisoners, detainees, hostages, victims, slaves and slave masters.
He created us all free and equal with the inherent qualities
of other human beings. Despotism is rather treason not only
against humanity but also against Almighty God….
In
any case, in spite of the fact that Mengistu appeared to be
less unpopular than Meles, by losing the worst dictators contest,
it doesn’t mean that he is much more respected and loved
than the incumbent ruler. Respect and love is the last thing
that dictators can earn. It is quite obvious that Mengistu still
enjoys an edge over Meles in terms of nationalism. Despite all
that, it is just a case of the lesser of the two evils.
.
