May 27, 2009 (ADDIS ABABA) – Ethiopia’s biggest opposition, Unity for Democracy and Justice party (UDJ) on Tuesday accused the government of obstructing its constitutional rights and preventing from conducting a peaceful political meeting.
Hailu Araya , vice president and person in charge of public relation to the party told Sudan Tribune that the UDJ is forced to cancel a public meeting it called for May 31,which was planned to be held at Addis Ababa’s Meskel square.
“This is one of the ruling party’s deliberate games aimed to weaken our political role in the country” Hailu said
“We are deprived of our constitutional rights to demonstrate a peaceful public political meeting.”
According to Hailu , the party was forced to cancel its public meeting after the Addis Ababa city administration rejected their request for public meeting, notifying them that the party can only hold meetings in halls
Originally, the party had plans to conduct the public meeting on May 23 but it was later compelled to hold the meeting at Meskel square as it found difficult to carry it out in halls, permitted by government for such events.
“Some owners of the halls demanded permission from the city administration, others agree now and change their minds later,” he said adding “city administration is behind all this.”
“The Ethiopian government once again is blocking our bridge with our supporters making it impossible to campaign for the coming national election,” he further said
Ethiopia will hold national elections in June 2010.
The opposition group strongly argues that the political space in the horn of Africa’s nation more than ever is narrowing.
“That little democracy the nation had is fading; democracy in Ethiopia is endangered,” Hailu stressed.
“Two days ago our member was arrested in southern Ethiopia.”
In Amhara region’s eastern Gojam zone our three offices are made closed, Hailu added.
Despite all these difficulties the party is claiming to have been facing, it has vowed to further scale up its peace full struggle.
It has called up on the ruling party to accept multi-party democracy.
Recently, the Ethiopian government promised that it will run a fair, democratic, non-violent 2010 election. But the opposition says that the promises are same old games that won’t jump beyond words.
(ST)
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May 28th, 2009 at 7:23 am
አንድነቶች ደግሞ ተራ የሆነ የሞኝ ጨዋታ አያቆሙም እንዴ? ምን አዲስ ነገር ተገኝ? በነሱ ቤት የህዝብ ትኩረት ለማግኘት ዘዴ መተለማቸው ነው::
ይልቁን የወያኔ የይስሙላ ምርጫ አዳማቂ ሆናችሁ የታሪክ ስህተት ላለመሥራት ከወዲሁ ብታስቡበት ጥሩ ነው:: ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ ህገ መንግስቱ የፈቀደው መብት ነው:: ወያኔን ፍቃድ ሳትጠይቁ ውጡ: ከዚህ ተያይዞ የሚመጣም ጥቃት ካለ ተጋፈጡ: ዛሬ ያላሰባስባችሁትና ያላነቃቃችሁት ህዝብ መቼም ወጥቶ አይመርጣችሁም:: አለበለዚያ ደግሞ አርፋችሁ ተቀመጡ: ህዝቡንም አትበጥብጡት::
May 28th, 2009 at 7:57 am
What are you talking about I thought this party is dead. We should not talk about any peaceful struggle this time.
I support an armed struggle against the parasites!
VIVA GINBOT 7!
May 28th, 2009 at 8:23 am
The UDJP seems to have abandoned the struggle and focused on getting some seats from Meles Zenawi. The arrest of the party`s leader w/t Birtukan Midekssa should have been enough to motivate the leaders of the party to take a hard stance against the ethno-fascistic regime of Meles Zenawi. The officials of the party are not calling on the public to rise and pressurize Meles Zenawi to release Birtukan and other prisoners of conscience in the country. The issue of prisoners is not to be left only to the UDJP but all pro-democracy and peace loving Ethiopians should intensify the struggle for the release of Birtukan and all other political prisoners. The moderate stance or softness of the leaders of the UDJP vis-a-vis the ethno-fascist rule of Meles Zenawi does not advance the causes of democracy, feeedom and justice in Ethiopia. The moderate or soft guys like Dr. Yacob Hailemariam should critically examine their stances and adjust their political positions according to the political reality in the country. The serious struggle against ethno-fascism entails high risks and sacrifices and those who are unable or unwilling to face these risks should abandon politics. The leaders of Ginbot7 have arrived at the necessary and timely conclusion and position when they have adopted their strategy of removing ethno-fascism by any means including the use of force.
May 28th, 2009 at 9:36 am
ወያኔ አዳራሽ መከራየት መስቀል አደባባይ መሰብሰብ ከለከለን ብለው ያልቅሱ ብቻ:: በማለቃቀስ ለውጥ የሚመጣ መስሏቸዋል:: ሰላማዊ ተግል ማለት እኮ ወያኔ ፈቀደም አልፈቀደም ህገ መግስታዊ መብትን መጠቀም ማለት ነው::ወያኔ በየቀኑ ህገ መንግስታዊ መብታቸውን ሲገፍ እያለቃቀሱ ወደ ቤታቸው የሚሄዱ ፖለቲከኞች እንዴት ነው ለውጥ የሚያመጡት? ብርትኳንን በህገ ወጥ መንገድ ስትታሰር ማን አስጣላት? ወያኔ ምንም ለማድረግ የሚያግደው ተቋማዊም ሆነ የሞራል ልጓም የለውም::በስልጣኑ ላይ ለመቆየት ምንም ከማድረግ የማይመለስ የሽፍታ ቡድን ጋር በልመናና በማልቀስ አይሰራም::
ሰላማዊ ትግልን እንደ ቀኖና ይዞ የትም አይዘልቅም:: የወያኔን የጫወታ ህግን ተረዱና ተመጣጣኝ የትግል ስልት ንደፉ::
May 28th, 2009 at 9:41 am
Wait a second! Dr. Hailu/UDJ, are you pretending that you dont know the nature of TPLF led govt? are you going to expect them to approve your plans to exercise your democratic right? I thought your party follows ’selamawi ena higaw’ struggle. Are you going to keep canceling/postponing/and ultimately forgetting about the most basic things such as public meetings because TPLF doesnt allow it? Give me a break, whats the significance of peaceful struggle then????
May 28th, 2009 at 10:07 am
No Comment at all
May 28th, 2009 at 10:17 am
What is wrong with Hailu Araya? Is he really going for any peacefull struggle from the bottom his heart? He clearly knows what EPRDF mean, no one understand them more than him. Why is he playin a game? No one will help us unless we go for it by other meanses, he should not west his time and others too. He better join Ginbot 7 if he is going for change truely.
Lehulum Gize alew…we will make Ethiopia heaven for sure
May 28th, 2009 at 10:36 am
ይቅርታ አድርጉልኝ እና መቸም እዚህ ያለችሁት አብዛኛችሁ “ዕዉራን ንቦች” አንድ ባልን ቁጥር እንደ ንብ መጮህ ልምድ ሆኖባችሗልና ብትጮኹም ሃቁን ከመናገር አንቦዝንም።
ለመሆኑ ይኼ ‘ካዲስ አበባ” ብሎ ራሱን የሚዘግብ ዉሸታም ዘጋቢ አንዴት እና በምን መረጃ ነዉ “ዩዺጄ”ን ባገሪቱ ዉስጥ ካሉት ተቃዋሚ ደርጅቶች “ትልቁ” ብሎ የሰየመዉ?
ለመሆኑ ካሁን በፊት ድርጅቱ የአባላቶቹ ብዛት ስንት መሆናቸዉ ሕጋዊ ዘገባ ለሕዝብ ገልጾ ያዉቃል? ዉሸት ምን ይረባል? መረጃዉ ከየት አገኘዉ? እባካችሁ አትጠይቁ አትበሉን!
በ197 መስከረም 20 ቅንጅት ተብለዉ 4 ድርጅቶች ሲመሰረቱ ትልቁ የተባለዉ “መኢአድ” ነበር ቀጥሎ “መድህን (ኢዴፓ-መድህን) ነበር። ከዚህ ዉጭ ሁለቱም እነ ኢዴሌ እና ቀስተ ዳመና ከግለሰዎች ቁጥር በላይ አያልፍም ነበር። ህልዉናቸዉም በተለይ የገንዘብ ምንጭ ያልነበረዉ ኢዴሌ የተባለዉ ጥቂት ግለሰዎችን በአባልነት መዝግቦ የነበረ የቸኮል ጌታሁን የስለሺ ጠና የሙሉነህ ኢዮኤል ድርጅት ቁጥር ዉስጥ ሳናስገባ - ቀስተደመናን ብንመለከት- ከምርጫ ቦርድ የፓርቲነት እዉቅና እየተጠባበቀ ስለነበር እዉቅና ያገኘዉ ከቅንጅት እኩል ነበር። ስለዚህ ዕድሜዉ ጮርቃ ነበር ማለት ነዉ። ብርሃኑ ነጋ ሊመረጥ የቻለዉ በማን አባል ድጋፍ መሆኑን “እዉራን ንቦች” ልትነግሩን ትችላላችሁ? የቅንጅት መስራች አባላት ታሪክ የሰዉ ብዛት እና ዕድሜ ታሪክ የማናዉቅ ብንሆን በእዉነቱ ይህ “የዉሸት አምባ” ያቀረቡ ዘገባ እንቀበለዉ ነበር ማለት ነዉ። ስለዚህ ዩ ዲ ጄ “ትልቁ ያገሪቱ ተቃወሚ ሃይል ነዉ ለመለት “ደጋፊ ማስረጃ” ካልቀረበ ዘጋቢዉ ማን መሆኑ ባይታወቅም ሕዝብን “በዉሸት መረጃ” ማደናገር ስራዉ ማቆም አለበት። ሕዝባዊ ተሳትፎ ማለት በዉሸት የሚዘገብ ማለት አይለምና እባካችሁ ትልቅም ትንሽም ቢሆን ያለዉን እዉነታ መዘገቡ ምን ይጎዳል? ኢሕአዴግ ትልቅ ነን ይላል- ወያኔ 25 ሚሊዮን አባላት አለኝ ስላለ በሕግ ያሸንፋል ብላችሁ ታምናላችሁ? የሚፈለገዉ እዉነታዉ ነዉ; እዉነታዉ ደግሞ “ዉሸት ማለት አይደልም። ከእስረ ቤት በፊትም ጽ/ቤት ያልነበረዉ ፤ ከእስር ወጥቶም የሚከራይ ቤት ያጣ ድርጅት በእምርታ ታላቁ ድርጅት እንዴት ሊሆን ቻለ?
ለመሆኑ ይህ ታላቅነት መመዘኛዉ ብዛት ነዉ ወይስ ስሙ ነዉ ወይስ የድርጅቱ አመራሮች ሽኩቻ አልባ ወይስ በራሱ አመራሮች በወቀሳ እየተዠለጠ ያለዉ ፤ በዝርክርክነት እየታመሰ መሪ ያጣ ድርጅት ነዉ ታላቅ የሚያሰኘዉ? ወይስ 200 ተቃዋሚ ሰልፈናኛ ብቻ የሚወስን አማራር ያለዉ ድርጅት? ዩ ዲ ጄ - የመንግስት ስልጣን ለማሸነፍ “መጠን” አለዉ ብሎ መዋሸት ህዝብን በሃሰት ማደናገር ብቻ ሳይሆን ራስን ባለመተማመን የመነጨ ወይንም “ታላቅ /ታላቅ” የሚል የዝና ስካር ትምክህት ሱስ ነዉ። በዉሰት የሚሰክር ድርጅት ደግሞ ዕደሜዉ በዚህም በዛም እያለ ህልዉናዉ ይደከማል;። ባትዋሹን!
May 28th, 2009 at 10:43 am
I do not understand what Dr. Hialu wants to tell us. Zenawi thugs are beasts. We know that they are beasts and they know that we know that they are beasts. What is that UDJ crying about? Why Dr. Hailu is telling us that Woyannie does not allow him Mesquel Square? I want to help Dr. Hailu that “this is the defination of peacful struggle” for the Woyannie ethno facists. Are you expecting this minority facists to allow you to demonistrat against them? Do not agonize! Leave the so called peaceful struggle and join G-7.
May 28th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Where do people want to make peaceful struggle? In Ethiopia? That is a joke….it is impossible. It is better for UJD to abandon legitimizing the illegitimate. Time for peaceful struggle is over after the 2005 election.
May 28th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Peaceful methods works only when the other side is at least try to pretend to be communicating with its citizens in civility. These are bunch of butchers with no human decency in their blood. How can you sacrifice innocent people of Eth in the name of peacful struggle. Just do nothing, stay home and cancel all so called opposition cramp and see woyane exposed to the world. That is the better startegy. Just keep silent.
May 28th, 2009 at 11:17 am
Argaw Dechassa (May 28th, 2009 at 8:23 am) said it all & put it well
No Comment at all !
May 28th, 2009 at 11:18 am
ስውዬው ምን ሆነና አገዛዙ የማን ሆነና ደህና ነገር ትጠብቃለህ ? ግዜ አታጥፉ ከግንቦት 7 ጋር አብራችሁ ስሩ:: 100 አመት ረግጦ ሊገዛህ እንደፎከረ አስታውስ::
May 28th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Oh my God! I can not believe this futile exercise by Dr. Hailu. I honestly have a great respect to Dr. Hailu and its party UDJ however this time arround he looks like completeley out of his mind. What are you talking about? Cann’t you call for a mass uprising since woyane is breaking the right of the people to have peaceful public meeting either in a hall or open place meetings?
Doesn’t the rule requires only notifying the city government office in charge?
I really can not belive your ridiculous cry to external or local medias. Thats not a struggle committed to democracy. Please do not try to die multiple times.
Please please please still you have the potential to make a difference in the history of Ethiopia together with your party coleagues.
You guys are well educated son and daughter of Ethiopia that I firmly believe can bring a real change. The public is with you please tell me what do you need? Beging Woyane which is exactly you are doing it now. That is a shame
It looks like you guys a sort of lack facing the challenge of ruthless Woyane.
Please be committed and have the courage to face the challenges in a real sense of motivation and intellictual capacity.
Please be capable of leading the struggle ultimately to bring a change. The Ethiopian people are ready for change!!!
Make a difference not a ridiculous cry!!! Please. Dr. Hailu’s recent out cry is does not make sense at all.
He is so scared of Woyane. If that is the case please give a chance for other courgeous leaders to replace you.
May 28th, 2009 at 11:45 am
አሁን አሁንስ የሰላማዊ ተግል ትርጉም ሊያጠፋን ነው::አንድነት ተብዬዎች በህገ መንግስት የጠቀመጠውን መብት መጠቀም አለባቸው::ይህንን ለማድረግ ወኔ ሊኖራቸው ይገባል እውን በሰላማዊ ትግል ካመኑ::ከዛ በዃላ የሚመጣውን መቀበል ነው::ደብዳቤ ይዞ ከቢሮ ቢሮ እየዞሩ የወያኔ ቡችሎችን የፍቀዱልን ልመና የትም አያደርስም::አንድ ተራ የወረዳ ካድሬ አልፈቅድም ሲል እጅ ሰብስቦ ቤት መቀምጥ ከሆነ ሰላማዊ ትግል እነዚህ ሰዎች ፖለቲካውን እርግፍ አድርገው ቢተዉ ይሻላል::በልፍስፍስ እና በፈዛዛ ታጋዮች ለውጥ አይመጣምና::
May 28th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
The ethno-fascist Meles Zenawi has already decided to close the small donor urged openings he had made during the 2005 elections because he had suffered a humiliating election defeat. He would not repeat this painful experience and pretend as a politician devoted to promoting democratic governance in Ethiopia. Meles Zenawi has removed his false democratic mask and put on his true ethno-fascistic one. The beggings and pleadings of the UDJP to hold public events or meetings would not get any positive response from the ethno-fascist. In fact, the leaders of the UDJP are now faced with the stark reality of not being able to conduct even their milder or soft version of peaceful struggle. Their pretension of conducting peaceful political struggle has come to its end with the arrest of their leader, Birtukan Midekssa who has gone a long way to make unwarranted appologies to the members and supporters of the TPLF. As an ethno-fascist organization, the TPLF does not understand any such gesture of good will and reconciliation since it regards them as weakness and recapitulation. The leaders of Ginbot7 have made the right decision when they left Meles Zenawi`s world of pretense and conduct the struggle on their own premises.
May 28th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
All the comentators are claims that armed struggle is the only way to be honest i didnt see any one firing a single bulet it was more than a year for Ginbot 7 where is the armed struggle exept news letter and radio
I have great appreciation for mens and womens of UDJ who they fight infront of the barel of gun.
UDJ the way to go.
May 28th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Did you also read the other brainwashed ethno nationalist Afra Ugugumo when it adressed to the nation, nationalities, people and so on jut by following the propagand ethnic stracture of naming the Ethiopians set by the Itlain facists and TPLF? Most of all did you see its last slogan? It never said Victory to the Ethiopian people- it said to the Afar people. How could someone of such ethnoc centric organization post such replica of TPLf policy worshiper be posted here ? Do you know who the leader is to begin with? God knows who he is? This country of mine has a lot of ethno craze liberation fronts simply brainwashed by Italians and , Arabs and so on. Bless your heart all the ethno where ever your heart and dream will be lying. Oh! Wey Agere , wey Zemen!
May 28th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Come on people, give Dr. Hialu a break. Both struggle has to go on, peaceful and arm. UDJ is doing their best, they need to finish what they started a peaceful struggle. They know, we know Woyanee will not allow the public meeting, but it need to asked to confirm that Woyane does not practice democracy in Ethiopia for the western countries and for some HODAMS that claim Woyane is a democratic regime.
May 28th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Feriwoch bicha. The biggest opposition is AEUP, not UDJ.
visit www.kaeup.com to see proof.
May 28th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
አንድነት የወያኒ ለማዳ ቡችላ ክሆን ቆየ
May 28th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
the peaceful struggle is officially dead now.
Is this true in the ENA link below that Prersident Obama congradulated Hippo Girma of Eth.
http://www.ena.gov.et/EnglishNews/2009/May/28May09/88590.htm
May 28th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Hi Fellow Ethiopians!
It is really very counterproductive that some of us jump to a very hasty and shallow remarks toward the UDJ’s leadership. Let’s not focus on blaming those who are trying their best to contribute to the best of their country.
Yes, they are trying to challenge tplf by any peaceful means . They cannot remain silent for the simple reason that the ruling circle/gangster is against any peaceful struggle . Instead of forwarding only views that are part of the very known fact about tplf, let’s help our patriotic opposition leaders with our critical and constructive ideas on how to deal with all the obstacles being made by sick- minded people of the eprdf/tplf.
May 28th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
No more peace full struggle in a way that Meles choses.We have to support G7 .
thanks
May 28th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Obama sends congratulatory message To President Girma
Addis Ababa, May 28, 2009 (Addis Ababa) - President of the United States of America, Barack Obama sent congratulatory message to Presdeint Girma Woldegiorgis in connection with the 18th anniversary of May 28, a day that heralded the demise of the dictatorial Derg regime in 1991, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
In his message, Obama expressed best wishes to the government and people of Ethiopia on behalf of his government and that of his own
The president said the long standing bilateral relations between America and Ethiopia would further be strengthened in the areas of economic development and ensuring peace and security in the Horn of Africa.
May 28th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
All Hodam members of UDJ. There is no way to have free Election in Ethiopia. How many times that Meles has to tale you all. You don’t get it or you doing this to spend your free time. Please stope what you are doing and G7 and the true ethiopians will take care of Weyane in near future. Go G-7.
May 29th, 2009 at 7:00 am
ADUGNA STAY COOL THIS IS PART OF THE STRUGGLE HAVE RESPECT FOR THESE COURAGEOUS ETHIOPIANS
May 29th, 2009 at 9:32 am
There has been a conference recently a conference in seattle/Oakland, where the core group of UDJP and supporters discussed the idea of participating in 2010 election or not. It seems there is an even split and it looks they do not have a unanimous stand on the 8-points preconditions precondition that AEUP is marching on, in addition to their collaboration to form a coalition with loyalist opposition parties with ethnic agenada, including Tigrai Harena, in addition to submissively collaborate with TPLF/eprdf regime.
May 29th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Begging and wagging of tail like service dog to woyane takes you no where except killing the fighting spirit of the people.Dear UDj leadership!if you donot have the gut to confront woyane in earnest, please step down and let others take up the lead.Because the cause of freedom can never be achieved by complaining and acting like cry baby
May 29th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Sami i amwith you also no comment
May 30th, 2009 at 3:45 am
EPRDF groups is not flexible enough to allow freedm expression and basic democracy principle to oppositions parties hold peaceful demonstration in Addis Ababa or others citys that is impossible.
All Ethiopian we now but undemocratic fascist racist they called them self TPLF OR EPRDF doesn’t make sense they are bullish it try to confuse us by create different party name TPLF EPRDF the some the bullish it.
TPLF OR EPRDF corrpted regime stolen money from poor Ethiopian last 18th years since they arrived Addis Ababa 1991 Beggars money from develop nations like USA and European union billions dollars and deposited foreigns country banks by meles and his wife and others tplf high ranking eprdf official stealing Ethiopian people money and send to own banks Account last 18th years.
All Ethiopian people we need stop our Different Aside and concentrate Liberate our country from Ethnic brutal blood thirsty mafia thieves regime for once life time and let’s freedom ring in Ethiopian.
unity is solution to pressure the mafia and fascist regime
unity is power to challenge the worst regime in twenty first century.
Good job Dr Berhanu Nego and Ginbot7 members go ahead.
god give us strength and unity.
May 30th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Getahun! I agree to what you are saying about Unity. Unity as a concept is depicted in most organization or party websites. Finote Ye Ethiopia Andenet Radio, Andnetledemocracy, AEUP, UDJP. Unity in all of these have different connotation, other than in the first and the third organization, which con not the Unity of Ethiopia.
Esayas Alemayehu has recently called for Unity of all oppositions parties, setting aside their political differences to tackle TPLF/eprdf, I believe, and yet in a conference with UEDF, embracing two factions, having called a conference to form a coalition with EPRP and another faction failed, because of their differences in their goals, and the perhaps the strategies to achieve their goals. AFD, an alliance for freedom and democracy has been formed among ONLF, OLF, CUD, EPPF etc, has been formed with English as their medium of communication, to which UEDF pulled out and EPRP was not in sight/mentioned. CUD was itself a coalition of different factions, and now “Medrek” is a coalition of UDJP, the loyalist opposition parties, and Tigrai Harena. If unity = coalition, there you have it, they are running against each other and against the TPLF/eprdf. These are coalitions with different agenda, the major difference being ethnic-based agenda and national agenda, being unity of Ethiopia and individual freedom superceeding ethnic rights, the liberation of all ethiopians. Therfore, the only way you can have unity instead of coalition with differnt agenda is by adopting the same national goals and the strategies to achieve those goals. Those strategies are in the camps of the hardliners. After they manage to achieve their objectives, they may want to go back to their party platform ethnic based agenda and campaign for election in a fair and free settings against the national agenda for unity of Ethiopia as one country, one flag and one official language.
May 30th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Every body in every case blames the government, no one is accountable for his/her own short coming any more, could the government be the panacea and the answer for every situations ? Maybe only in Ethiopia
May 31st, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Ginbot 7 Secretary General Andargachew held talks with high-level Eritrean government officials
we will smash agazzi baby killer. The war has begain. agazzi are caged with east west south north.
viva our eritrean brothres. viva Isyas.
http://www.ethiopianreview.com/content/2009/05/ginbot-7-secretary-general-held-talks-in-asmara/
May 31st, 2009 at 9:58 pm
TPLF only trust tigran people.
we ethiopian will fight TPFL from all corner.
viva ethiopian force
Agazzzi will pay the price.
http://www.eppfonline.org/
June 1st, 2009 at 5:18 am
The “smallest” of all political parties in Ethiopia is EDP. Unlike UDJ, which is the “biggest” parties in Ethiopia, EDP is creating a momentum by sensitizing the public through public meeting. A case in point will be the recently concluded historic public meeting that took place in Addis Ababa with attendance unparalleled by any other opposition public meeting that took place in the country since the debacle of Kinijit.
The true intention of UDJ’s recent statement regarding its inability to hold a public meeting was not even emanated from a genuine intention of holding a public meeting. It was part of their grand design to torpedo the now successfully held public meeting of EDP from happening. Such are our “visionary” leaders’ political acumen.
Shame on them!!! Most of them are highly educated Ethiopians at an advanced age of their life and yet they are playing a dirty political game. These are not leaders that are capable of leading the struggle for the realization of a better Ethiopia tomorrow. They are part of the old ugly political culture. They are part of our problem. Sooner or later, the innocent Ethiopians who have high hope on the so called leaders of UDJ will wake up and realize the truth.
In the mean time, EDP will continue organizing the public in all four corners of Ethiopia. Their next major public meeting will take place in a week or so time in Awassa. EDP, the smallest and none existent party in the mind sets of some, is marching forward with its agenda by mobilizing the public behind its vision and mission of creating a democratic Ethiopia tomorrow.
EDP is the way forward!!!
June 1st, 2009 at 9:19 am
Ms. Almaz,
You are right my dear amara sister, we are fighting the multifaceted struggle to overthrow Tigreans and the Oromos domination of Ethiopias politics, and to reinstate our amara former positions, as an amara Ethiopian- i say amen for that.
June 2nd, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Abara is TPLF weyane agazzi baby killer rat. He wants pro-TPLF government in eritrea, so his rat race can rule ethiopia forever. Ethiopian wake up. Down with TPLF.
http://www.eppfonline.org/
reply
Rightfully it was so. Indeed, with the ardent sacrifice and unflinching support of TPLF, on May 24, 1991 Eritrea happens to claim its national independence from Ethiopia. Now that Eritrea is free in political, legal, or in legislative terms from Ethiopia still remain a riddle until further unresolved key national issues are completely solved and its inhabitants are freed from endless military captivity.
No matter how this might sound and, is odd or even bizarre, the cruel and undeniable realities on the ground inside Eritrea even as we speak dictate the very question whether Eritrea is really a nation of serfdom or freedom; whether Eritrea is certainly independent in the true sense of the word or not; or is she yet to reclaim that independence stance in its solid terms either by asking the international community for the border demarcation or by making a deal with the opposition forces being supported inside Eritrea. The answer is quite far from, and not even close to, what we may call freedom; indeed Eritrea is an absolute and unequivocal state of collective serfdom; a nation of military garrisons and guerrilla warfare camps openly observable everywhere. The overwhelming majorities of the nearly 4-million Eritrean people remain incarcerated in military garrisons; and are no where near claiming to be free people! Nor is the boundary demarcating Eritrea as a free nation is clearly settled by any international or national means. In the last nearly two decades Eritrea has declared war plainly with all its neighboring states indiscriminative all around.
To one’s dismay, the Eritrean tyrant Issayas Afewarki has already turned Eritrea exactly into his private Estate; and Eritrean inhabitants into his serfs bound to remain loyal who unquestionably obey his leadership or commanderships. They are inculcated with absolute caution to fulfill only his will in every aspect of societal life; including asking his permission to move from point A to point B! No national constitution, no parliament, no basic human rights, or no elected officials exist in today’s Eritrea. Tyrant Issayas Afewarki single-handedly picks, hires, and fires folk at will. He appoints public officials, “diplomats”, “Ministers”, “zonal administrators”, “zonal generals” and makes sure that they in turn acknowledge him as the strongest Eritrean man who must be feared and obeyed by any and all means for leading them to “freedom”. Like every landlord, tyrant Issayas Afewarki has the last words over every thing that pertains to his private Eritrea Estate! The Eritrean people are only told; not consulted about Afewarki’s decisions or actions. Yes, it is customary for serf-masters not to consult the untouchable serfs. As loyal serfs, the Eritrean people have accepted the hardship conditions exerted by their landlord as they have no other options; but left obviously to concur with the landlord’s daily decisions; or whatever he (Tyrant Issayas Afewarki) who must be obeyed by all means has to say or to offer for rendered labor or military services! How different is this contemporary Eritrean livelihood than the feudal era of Ethiopia? Or the collective communistic military garrison state of Northern Korea today?
First of all, Tyrant Issayas Afewarki openly declares democracy as ‘non-existent’ in the world. That means, for their own survival or for their own good, the Eritrean serfs must know how to concur! Secondly, Afewarki dismisses elections as western conspiracy to divide the people of Eritrea along vertical differences. Consequently, the Eritrean serfs are propagated day in day out through the Eritrean mass media and through community cadres to zealously continue to concur for their own survival! And if Afewarki were to say 10+1=14, serfs would concur that too! Especially after September 2001 when his most prominent opponents were summarily arrested or fled the country, Issayas Afewarki’s predominance is boosted by his handpicked persons holding key positions for fear of political reprisals.
In short whatever the tyrant has to mumble on the national TV or Radio or in his public speeches the serfs simply concur that without any questioning at all! Thirdly, as serfs, the people of Eritrea are there only to render their labor services however they are compensated for it by the landlord, if any! Fourthly, it is clear that social, economic, and political emancipation indeed constitute the major props of freedom. But these are non-existent in Eritrea as such ideas are said to be western liberal talks that happen far from the preaching of the Western World in the Western arena itself. So in Eritrea, it is all about serfdom under the guise of freedom all the way through! It is befitting to communism or state capitalism to keep Eritrean people in serfdom. Eritrean people are told by the landlord Tyrant Issayas Afewarki that they shouldn’t get all what they want; but they may feel free to want what they get! As per tyrant Afewarki, the Eritrean people don’t want what the Western World terms as: “democracy, justice, rule of law, elections, human rights, free press, etc”. To Afewarki, these are empty terms in ideal context. The Western liberals talk all about freedom that never exists in reality. As far as Afewarki is concerned, “indeed the Eritrean people want what they can get. And the state expects from each according to his ability and provides to each according to his needs”.
In a recent interview Afewarki gave to Asharq Al-Awsat he stated saying: “We do not have a misguided press in this country and we do not think there is an absolute press freedom in the world. The world newspapers are now operating in the so-called age of globalization. It is a process of monopoly by specific groups that are known by name and known by their capabilities, financing, and management. Press freedom is non-existent and we are opposed to this situation in the world on which certain quarters impose their control. These quarters are using the media to serve their private interests. The true voices of the media are the voices that oppose the monopolization of the media that are distorting the facts and serving monopolist interests. The media is now monopolized by a specific quarter that has interests, ambitions, and policies of hegemony and monopoly. They are exploiting the media and this is part of their policies. Should we be part of this process or should we make our voices heard and not allow these quarters to muzzle us? We do not allow these world organs to be active on our land to distort the facts and create discord in our country or our region and in our environment. This country and this region need a free media, a free media that convey the information as it is so that the people would build on facts and correct information and then analyze viewpoints in the interest of these peoples. This region needs to create and unify harmony among its peoples not to use the media to cause division and create sedition among nations and countries. This is not true media but media of distortion and fabrication of discord. We do not welcome and we have no interest in adopting such a process. That is the false media say that there is no free press in Eritrea. We are reassured and at peace with this process because the accusations against us are being made by oppressors, counterfeiters, and monopolists that think they alone have media and no one else. We have a clear stand on this issue and the people are following up on what is happening in the world and in the region. They differentiate between facts in this country.”
But let me say it clearly and loudly: It is long overdue time for FREEDOM from tyranny and serfdom in Eritrea.
The Author can be reached @ abrehe@gmail.com