By Alemayehu G. Mariam | 21 September 2009
Déjà Vu: Here We Go Again With the Charade
Last April, we commented that the whole business of elections in Ethiopia is “much ado about nothing”. We offered a catalogue of reasons why the whole election rigmarole and ritual under the current dictatorship was an exercise in futility and absurdity 1 :
The insufferably meaningless [2008] election ritual is now almost over. But for a few more days, we’ll have to put up with the regime’s self-congratulatory blabber and vacuous sloganeering about Ethiopia’s unstoppable march on the road to democracy. Mercifully, in another week or so, no one will even remember there was an ‘election’ in Ethiopia in 2008.
Perhaps we spoke too soon. Here we go again with another election charade!
We are once again being finessed into talking about “the 2010 election” as though it is a real election. It is as real as Mickey Mouse, Pinocchio, Bugs Bunny and Mr. Magoo. It is just crazy: How is it possible that we fall for the same old trick over and over and over…? How can one conceive of contesting an “election” in 2010 that has already been won in 2009? How does any reasonable person believe that the same crooks that rigged the 2005 election will sit in their rocking chairs on the front porch watching a real election being held? Didn’t the same gang of election thieves tell us last April that opposition party members won ONLY 3 seats out of 3.5 million elected seats won by their party? What they call an “election” is the three ring circus where they will be formally announcing their landslide victory in May 2010.
But the charade goes on. It was reported that Ethiopia’s arch dictator “has set up talks with the opposition about drawing up a code of conduct for [elections] next year.” As usual, he tried to pull a fast one by trying to get opposition party leaders to sign it. Ato Seeye Abraha, a former defense minister who is now in the Forum for Democratic Dialogue in Ethiopia [FDDE] (a coalition of eight opposition parties) said, “The code of conduct assumes a context where there will be independent administration of elections, freedom of movement, freedom of expression, no intervention by security forces.” FDDE members pulled out of the talks. It was a simple case of “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”
Jamais Vu: What in the World is Going on in Ethiopia?
When the familiar seems new or bizarre, psychologists call it “jamais vu”. Something strange is going on in the relationship between the pro-democracy opposition parties and the one-man, one-party dictatorship in Ethiopia. They seem to have finally come to a complete agreement on political strategy. They have all become Ghandians. Ethiopia’s arch dictator has threatened to use the collective numerical power of African countries and walk out of the climate change negotiations in Copenhagen in December if the “rapists” of Africa do not pay up $67 billion a year as “blood money” for their centuries-long abuse of the continent:
If need be we are prepared to walk out of any negotiations that threatens to be another rape of the continent… While we reason with everyone to achieve our objective we are not prepared to rubber stamp any agreement by the powers… We will use our numbers to delegitimise any agreement that is not consistent with our minimal position… Africa will field a single negotiating team empowered to negotiate on behalf of all member states of the African Union…
The FDDE “using its numbers” wants to negotiate with the ruling “Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front” to contest the “2010 elections”. But they walked out of the negotiations when the dictatorship began a campaign of arrest and intimidation against their members. Ato Bulcha Demeksa, leader of the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement bitterly complained, “The ruling party cadres throughout the country are jailing our potential candidates on false charges… We want to negotiate with the government and ask them to stop arresting and jailing our potential candidates.” The capo dictator in his polished Orwellian gobbledygook was sarcastically dismissive: “Those parties that apparently are concerned about harassment are not concerned enough to participate in the devising of a code of conduct that is designed to put an end to it, if it exists, or to prevent it if it doesn’t… The intent of these individuals is to discredit the election process from day one, not to participate in it.” The dictator’s reptilian consigliere, Bereket Simon, with his signature condescension, contempt and mockery of the opposition quipped, “Nobody is being jailed for being a politician… To walk away from [the talks] is disastrous and is to walk away from democracy.”
Ghandi Rules!
We are now witnessing an epic Ghandian confrontation over how to use “numbers”. To use or not to use one’s numbers, that is question in Ethiopia and Africa today: Whether African countries or opposition political parties in Ethiopia should “use their numbers” in negotiations for a fair outcome in climate change or election negotiations? Whether a group of countries or political parties should “use” their “numbers” to delegitimize a concocted climate change deal agreement or a bogus code of conduct to facilitate rigged elections? Whether “numbers” should be used to resist and fend off Africa’s and Ethiopia’s “rapists”? Whether African countries should rubberstamp a lopsided climate deal agreement with the West or opposition political parties a one-sided code of conduct with a dictatorship?
In a Ghandian confrontation, there are no losers, only winners. Africans will certainly win if they use their “numbers” in the climate change negotiations. So will Ethiopian opposition political parties if they use their “numbers” to insist on holding an open and free election.
Climate Change and Regime Change
Climate change and regime change are actually two faces of the same coin. Think about it. Climate change affects the ecological well-being and survival of the entire planet; regime change is about the political ecology and welfare of human beings in a small corner of the planet. The mechanism for positively transforming both is the same: Attain moral clarity and act decisively and courageously on sound and unassailable moral grounds. If walking out of negotiations is a good and prudent moral act to save Africa from the “Western rapists”, it is also good and prudent enough to rescue Ethiopia from her rapists. If it is moral and prudent for “Africa to field a single negotiating team empowered to negotiate on behalf of all member states of the African Union,” it is moral and prudent for the FDDE to do the same in Ethiopia. If it is a moral act to “delegitimise any agreement that is not consistent with minimal positions on climate change” using one’s “numbers”, why would it not be an equally compelling moral act to delegitimize any “code of conduct,” “election” or “regime” that does not meet “minimal positions” of universally accepted standards of human rights and democratic practices? Those who point an index finger at the Western predators and “rapists” of Africa for hypocrisy, chicanery and underhandedness should look at their own clenched fists and see that three fingers are pointing directly at them. Regime change before action on climate change!
Just in passing…
What is the “2010 election” about anyway?
Is it about famine that is now voraciously consuming one-fifth of the Ethiopian population? The confinement of hundreds of thousands of political prisoners in prisons and secret detention facilities without trial? Prosecution of torturers, murderers and other human rights abusers? The ecological catastrophes facing Ethiopia? The galloping inflation? The rampant corruption and plunder of the public treasury? The complete lack of legal accountability of Ethiopia’s dictators? The millions of dollars worth of gold bars that walked straight out of the bank in 2007? The lack of access to clean safe water (only 24% of the total Ethiopian population has access to “clean and safe water”)? The reckless intervention in the Somali civil war, the squandered resources and wasted young lives? The massive human rights violations and absence of the rule of law? The establishment of an independent judiciary, freely functioning of civil society organizations and press? Improving one of the worst educational systems in the world (only 33% of boys and less then 20% girls are enrolled in school in Ethiopia)? Improving one of the worst health care systems in the world (only about 20% of Ethiopians have any access to some form of primary care, one physician for every 40,000 people, one nurse for every 14, 000 people)?
Or is it about “None of the Above”?
Remember 2005?
Real elections took place in 2005. Back then there were real opposition parties who campaigned vigorously. There were free and open debates. The private free press challenged the dictators and scrutinized the opposition. Civil society leaders worked tirelessly to inform and educate the voters and citizenry about democracy and elections. Voters openly and fearlessly showed their dissatisfaction with the regime in public meetings. On May 15, 2005, the voters did something that had never been done in recorded Ethiopian history. They used the ballot box to clean house. That was a lesson in real elections!
It is time for all Ethiopian pro-democracy forces to wake up and refuse to be pawns in the dictatorship’s silly little game of “elections”. The dictators want the opposition to participate in their “election” so that they could use the “participation” as a stage prop when they go panhandling Western donors for aid. The key to Ethiopia’s future is based on building coalitions and organizations that strive to create strong bonds and linkages across ethnic, linguistic, political, regional and ideological lines. FDDE holds great promise in this regard. Until pro-democracy forces inside and outside Ethiopia develop a consensus and a plan of action for democratic change, the dictatorship will continue to put up election circuses and make puppets of us all in its freak show.
It is foolish to believe the “2010 election” will make any difference in the lives of Ethiopians. It is an election about NOTHING; and we should condemn it as a travesty and caricature of democracy and a shameless mockery of popular sovereignty. We are entertained by Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Pinocchio and Mr. Magoo, but we do not believe any one of them is real. And so it is with the “2010 elections” circus in Ethiopia….
—-
The writer, Alemayehu G. Mariam, is a professor of political science at California State University, San Bernardino, and an attorney based in Los Angeles. He can be reached at almariam@gmail.com
September 21st, 2009 at 1:39 pm
it is sad that some people are still being fooled by woyane!!!!!! shame on us!!
thank you FDD/MEDREK for boycotting the election
free birtukan and free ethiopia!!!!!
September 21st, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Prof. Almariam,
thanks so much for the outstanding weekly article. Yes there is nothing to happen in may 2010 since Weyane already won the election, Period!
It’s just a waste of time to discuss a ways to participate on the finished weyane election rather than finding ways to get rid of the weyane racist and terrorist group from ethiopia.
Shame on enjerraaa hailu who is now dealing to be No.2 Lidetu for weyane …..
September 21st, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Very articulated piece of article, logical comparison for the sake of argument. Fitting to mention the number of political prisoners.
Answer:
AU at last fielded one action committee for climate change negotiation.
Questions:
1) Where is united oppositions front in Ethiopia?
2)Are you serious with Seye as real leading figure in one section of the opposition (group of 8)?
3)Did FDDE walked out before negotiation, during negotiation or after negotiation vs. climate change negotiators’ intent and the reasons for the walkout?
4)Does FDDE represent all the oppositions groups in Ethiopia? Can you substantiate please?
4)Whose fault if one is fox and the other is sheep?
5)Why Birtukan is forgotten by her supporters from inside and outside Ethiopia?
Cheers
September 21st, 2009 at 8:00 pm
After the honey moon for K-5 and KILL 6 is over and UDJP was formed with a tiltle/platform “Unity for Justice and Democracy”, where the unity signifies not the unity of Ethiopia but for justice and democracy, where both of the those are supposed the result of engaging in a peaceful struggle so that the freed individuals will elect into office a party with national agenda. Instead of that movement the then K-5 supporters and the now UDJP supporters in the Diaspora of North America made a press release “No Change but durable Democracy”, in a country where the mantra, economic development by TPLF and TPLF affilated enterprises before democracy in the style of East Asia.
From that time on with temporarily vigouous development of UDJP, with the fund gathered in the name of Kinijit, and the formation of the coalition called Mederek including UDJP as a spearhead, the loyalist opposition parties with ethnic agenda, including Tigrai harena at the helm of the coalition, forming a party mirror imaging TPLF/eprdf, to sort of politically form a bicameral TPLF/eprdf on one side of Chamber and Tigrai Harena/Medrek on the other side of the chamber.
These two parties represent the TPLF/eprdf multi layered, hiearchical political model, and the Medrek party, a sustainer of TPLF/eprdf regime and/or replacement by some miracle, not by election nevertheless, yet uncinditionally geared up for election, and UDJP party members are battling over eacher on the participation for election, and the fight for the lease of their party leader.
The third and forth political models, which according to to your catagory do not fit the pro-democracy opposition parties are perhaps AEUP, EPRP, etc. as well as the fourth UEDF? which fall in between AEUP and UDJP in terms of participating in the election as a form of peaceful struggle.
When you identify yourself as we and sighted, what syye Abrah asserted what the code of ethics/conduct conference called by TPLF/eprdf should include, was a support in disguise for AEUP 8-point preconditions, but did not emphatically puti in writting as aproposal as an ultimatum to participate in the election.
What I do not understand is your conclusion that that the 2010 is is Nothing, when you already all the previous five election were only a ploy to meet the requirement of the donor countries.
What I aspire you would have suggested for you and your collougues to go back and push for the Passage of HR2003 to S3457 in the Senate to pass as to reset the forein policy of USA for Ethiopia, as fron end support for the negoting power of the 8-point preconditions to reset conditions for a fair and free election, and urge the party you affiliated with to set an ultimatum for participating in the selection.
You are however speaking to the 8-pont preconditions set by AEUP, while you are sighting a statement made by Medrek party member, which does not set an ultimatum for participatin or not participating in the election.
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:13 am
Professor , you are absolutely right. There will be no free election with the current (woyanne) Regime. And like you said “It is an election about NOTHING”.
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:32 am
Very articulated piece of article, logical comparison for the sake of argument. Fitting to mention the number of political prisoners.
Answer:
AU at last fielded one action committee for climate change negotiation.
Questions:
1) Where is united oppositions front in Ethiopia?
2)Are you serious with Seye as real leading figure in one section of the opposition (group of 8)?
3)Did FDDE walked out before negotiation, during negotiation or after negotiation vs. climate change negotiators’ intent and the reasons for the walkout?
4)Does FDDE represent all the oppositions groups in Ethiopia? Can you substantiate please?
4)Whose fault if one is fox and the other is sheep?
5)Why Birtukan is forgotten by her supporters from inside and outside Ethiopia?
Cheers
Permalink
September 22nd, 2009 at 5:04 pm
ፕሮፌሶር የሚጽፏቸውን በየጊዜው እየተከታተሉ ከሚያነቡት አንዱ ነኝ:: በጣም ብርታት: በዛ ባሉ የተለያዩ የትምህርት ዘርፎችምጠለቅ ያለ ዕውቀት ያላቸው የሚያኮሩ ኢትዮጵያዊ ናቸው ብዬ አምናለሁ::
አንድ ምክር ለሳቸው እንድታደርሱልኝ የምሻው ግን የበለጠ ተወዳጅና ተነባቢ እንዲሆኑ: የሚጽፉዋቸው መጣጥፎችም ለዲሞክራሲ በሚደረገው ትግል አስተዋጾዖ ማድረግ ብቻ ሳይሆን ጽናትን የሚሰጡና የሚያበረታቱ የትግል መሳሪያ ሆነው እንዲቀርቡ ነው:: ማለትም:
1- ጽሁፎቹ ይጠሩ:
2- ከበድ ያለ ቃላቶች ቀለል ባሉ የተለመዱ ቃላቶች የቀየሩ:
3- አንባቢዎቻቸውን ይወቁ!
አመሰግናለሁ
የዘወትር ጎብኚያችሁ - በቀለ ከ ግሪክ ነኝ
September 23rd, 2009 at 2:09 am
Thank you prof.
September 23rd, 2009 at 2:26 am
Do you think medrek is going to boycott the election. don’t fool yourselves…they will do it at the 11th hour. First of all who organized them from the very beginning? Is that not woyane?…Another group of Lidetus……If you can plz don’t talk anything about mircha…anymore. if you can buy one bullet and give it to ‘Freedom Fighters’
in that instance you can avoid one woyane from earth….
September 23rd, 2009 at 4:52 am
-EVERY ETHIOPIAN, WHO LOVES ETHIOPIA, SHOULD STAND FOR THE UNITY, FREEDOM & DEMOCRACY TO GAIN OUR RIGHT.
-AN ETHIOPIAN, WHO ARE EXPECTING “FREEDOM, DEMOCRACY” FROM THE COMING ELECTION WILL BE RIDICULOUS. THAT MEANS, EXPECTING THE DOVECHICS FROM THE SNAKES.
” ETHIOPIAN! WE MUST BE JOIN WITH THE “G7 MOVEMENT FOR JUSTICE, FREEDOM & DEMOCRACY FOR OUR RIGHT. THE FASCIST WEYANE SHIFTA GROUP HAS PLANNING TO CONTINUE- FASCISM, DIVIDING OUR NATIONS, PRISONNING & KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE.
GATE UP STAND UP-
STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHT!!!
VICTORY TO ETHIOPIAN!!!
September 23rd, 2009 at 9:28 am
የላዩ አስተያየት ዘመናዊ ባርት የሚለው :ዘመናዊ ባርነት ተብሎ ይነበብልኝ ክይቅርታ ጋር::
September 23rd, 2009 at 10:34 am
በድሮ ጊዜ የነበረች ጦጣ ከሌሎች ጋራ አብራ ስትሄዽ ከኽላ ቀርታ በሌሎቹ ቂጥ መመለጥ በጣም ሳቀች አሉ::ይሉአትን ብታቅ ኑሮ መች እንዲያ ትሆን ነበር::
በስመ ዲሞክራሲ ዳግም የምርጫ አጀንዳ ተኮፍሰው እነአጅሬ መለስ የህዝብን ህይወት ለመቅጠፍ ዳግም እያደቡ ያ በደም የተሞላ እጃቸውን ታጥበው ለሌላው ዙር የንጽሕን ደም ግድያና አፈና እራሳቸውን አዘጋጅተው ደም የተጠማው ልባቸውን ገብር ሊያስገቡለት ባጋዥ ዲያቢሎስ አባታቸው ተባርከው ይኽው ዝግጅታቸውን አጠናቀው ለመጭው ምርጭኣ ኑ እና እንፍጃችሁ እያሉን ነው::
ሰው ነንና ሁሌም መችስ ስህተት ባይጠፋንም ከስህተታችን መማር ደግሞ በመቻላችን ከሌላው እንሰሳዊ ባህሪያት እንለያልን ::ስለሆነም ዳግም አንሸወድም::ሴጣኑ መለስ ከበፊት ጀምሮ በትግልህ ዘመን የዘረፍከው ህዝብ ንብረትና ገድለህ ያስገደልከው ንጹሃን ህዝብ ቢቆጠር በውን ቁጥር ይበቃው ይሆን ይህን መቼም ልብህ ሁሌም ሲያስታውስህ ይኖራል::
እጆችህ በውንጀል ተሞልተው ሳለ ሌላውን ምስኪን ህዝብ ህገወጥ ብለህ ፈረጅከው:ጅራፍ እራሱ ገርፎ እራሱ ይጭሕኣል እንዲሉ ሲጀመር አንስቶ ህገወጥ የነበርከው አንተና ህገወጡ ቡድንህ ነበራችሁ::የንጹህን ህይውት በመግድል የህዝብ ንብረት በመዝረፍና የሃግርን ድንበር ለሌሎች አሳልፎ በመስጠት መጠየቅ የነበረባችሁ ነበራችሁ:: አሁንም ትጠየቃላችሁ::ስለሆነም ወንጀለናን የሚናፍቅ ህዝብ የለም :ለፍትህ የቆመ መንግስት በህዝብ ትግል ሲፈጠር ያኔ ህግመንግስት ወይም ፍትህአዊ አስተዳደር ትክክል የሆነ ፍችአቸውን ያገኝኣሉ::
የሚያስገርመው እወክለዋለሁ ብለህ ከጅምሩ ወርቅ ትውልድ እያልክ ያሞካሽኽውን ምስኪኑ የትግራይ ክልል ህዝብ ካንተ ከንቱ ዲስኩር ያተረፈው የሚናፍቅውን የወርቅ ስጦታ ሳይሆን ካንተ ክወንጀለኝኣው ያገኝው ጊዜያዊና ፈራሽ የሆነውን የክፋትህን መገለጭኣ ዬሆነውን የድንጋይ ስጦታ ነው::በነጽኣንት ስም ከህሊና ዳኝነትና አመለካክት ነጽኣ ያለወጣውን የትግራይ ክልል ህዝብ ከሌላው ወገኑ ለመለየት አንተና አጋዥ ቡድኖችህ ያቆያችሁለት ወጥመድ አልገባ ቢላችሁ ጊዜውን ጠብቆ የሚፈርስ ተራ ድንጋይ መታስቢያ ብላችሁ ከፊቱ ደነቀራችሁበት:ያ ድንጋይ ሁሌም የሚሳስበው ያንተን ወንጀለኝኣኝነት እንጂ የነርሱን ነጽአነት አይደለም::
ባሁኑ ሰአት ስንቱ በርህብ አለንጋ እንደሚገረፍ ቤቱ ይቁጠረው ሚሊዮንስ እየተራቡ በርሃብተኝኣው ስም የሚገኝውን እርዳታ ለራስህና ለውንጀለኝኣው ቡድንህ እድሜ ማራዘሚያ የጦር መሳሪያ እና ከሃዲያን ቅጥረኝኦችን እንደምትገዛበት ሁሉ የሚያውቀውና ያደባባይ ሚስጥር ነው::
ይህን ሁል ውንጀል ተሽክምህ ዲማክራሲን አመጥቻለሁ ብሎ መቀባጠሩ ሲሉ ስምታ እንደተባልችው መሆኑ ነው እንጂ ሌላ ምን ሊሆን ይችላል::በጣም የሚያሳዝነው ኢትዮዽያ መፍትሄ መስጠት የሚችሉ ልጆቻም አሁንም እርስብርስ እየተናከሱ የፓርቲ ብዛት መፍትሄይ ይሆን ይምስል በየተሰደዱበት ወር በገባ ቁጥር አዳዲስ የትግል ግንባር መፍጠራቸው ነው::
እርባና ቢስ ስብስባና ከንቱ ስብክት ከስራ ጋር አይዛመዱም::ሁሌ ከማልቀስ አንድ ቀን ተኩሶ ብሶትን ማበስ የማያወላዳ መፍትሄአችን ነው::አሜሬካኖች እንግሊዞችን ሲያባርሩ ተዋግትው ነው እንጂ ተሰብስበው ብቻ አይደለም:ዛሬ ታላላቅ ያሚባሉት ሃያላን ሁሉ ነጽኣነታቸውን የተቀዳጁት በህዝቦቻችው ያላሰለስ የሞት ሽረት ጥረት ውጤት ነው::ዝም ብለን ዛሬን እየተራብንና እያለቅን ባለፈ የሶስት ሺህ ዘመን አኩሪ ታሪክ እያልን ጊዜያችንን በዋዛ ፈዛዛ እያጠፋነው ነው ያለነው::ይህንን ታሪክ መዘከር እንካ የምንችለው በህይውት ስንኖር ብቻ ነው::
ጎበዝ ያለፈው ይብቃንና ወደፊት እንመልከት::ልክ እንደአባይ ውሃችን በራሳችን እየተነዳን በስደት ለጎረቤት ሲሳይ ከመሆን ፊታችንን መልስን ሃግራችንን ከተያዘችብት ፍትሃዊ ያልሆን አገዛዝ እናደናት::ሀገራችንን የሰው ድህም አይደለችም: ምሁራን ለሌሎች በዘመናዊ ባርነት ጥላ ተሸብበው እራሳችውን ሳይሆን ሌላን ለመሆን ሳይወዱ ወኔው ከድቶአቸው ዜግነትን እንካን በመቀየር የሌሎች አገልጋይ ከሆንን አመታት ተቆጥረዋል::ነገር ግን የሚገርመው በውኑ ኢትዮዽያዊ መልኩን ነብር ዝንጉሩን መለወጥ ይቻለዋለን የተባለልንን ዘንግተውት ይሆን?ይህን ለነርሱ እተዋለሁ::በቅዱስ መጽሕፍ እንካን ከመጀመሪያው አንሰቶ በዘፍጥረት ስማችን ከሁል በፊት ተጠቅሳል::ዘፍ:2ይመልከቱ :: በቅዱስ መጽሕፍ
በመጀመሪያ ሰም የተጠቀስ የኢትዮዽያ እንጂ የአስራኢል አልንበርም::ከዚያም አልፎ ብዙ ቦታዎች አለ::
ችግራችን ምን ይሆን ለምን እርስ በአርስ አንተማመንም የድሮ አብሮነታችን ምን ሽረሽረው?ልጅ ከወላጁ ሳይስማማ ለሃገር እንዴት መቆም ይችላል?የሀይማኖት አባቶች እርስበርሳቸው ተናቁረው መአመኑን ኣስቸግረው ልክ የፕልቲካ ፓርቲ መሪዎች ይመስል ህዝቡን ከፋፍልው ይዝውታል::
ይህን እርስ በርሱ የተካፋፈል ህዝብ ጸሎት አምላክስ እንዴ ይስማው:ለኡሁሉም ሳንመች ፍትህ እያልን ብንጭኦሕ እውን ፈጣሪ ይታረቀን ይሆን?ለዚህ መፍትሄ መቼም የወደፊቱን የሚነግርን ነብይ አያስፈልገንም:: እንደየእምነታችን ዘወትር ስንጼልይ መቼም ዬበደልንን ይቅር እንደምንል እያልን ሁሌም ሳንዋሽ ውለን አናድርም?ወይ ለስጋችን ወይ ለንፍሳችን ሳንመች ይኽው በሌሎች መሳቂያ ሆነን እድሜያችንን እየገፋን ነው::ልቦና ይስጠን::
አዎን ህገራችንን አንቆ የያዝው ሴይጥኣንኣዊው መለስን ለማጥፋት በቅድሚያ የራሳችን ውስጥ ያለውን ማጥፋት አለብን ያኔ እኝኣ ስንጼዳ አምላካችንንም ትልቁን ሴይጥኣን መለስና መስል ተከታዮቹን እንድናጠፋቸው የሰከን አይምሮና እርስበርስ መተማመንን በልባችን ይሰጠናል::በሌላ ትዝብት እስክንገናኝ ክልብ ቆዩኝ::ወንድማቹህ ነኝ ልብ ይስጠን:::
September 23rd, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Yes, the TPLF-led government has committed all the atrocities and repressions required to make the Ethiopian electorate meek and insecure and to make the oppositions feeble and crippled. The negotiations are simple tactics to waste time while assuming an appearance of concern about the democratic process. The ‘2010′ election is a lost game. The only slim possibility from the current hype of negotiations is to set the stage for democractic institutions such as independent election board, free access to media, participation of independent civic organisation in the democratic process, and others for the future elections. Currently, most of the true opposition parties do not have any strong presence in most parts of Ethiopia due to the continuous intimidation, repression, and atrocities of TPLF/EPRDF in the past five years. Participating in the election is simply legitimizing the dictatorship of Meles Zenawi and emboldening TPLF/EPRDF to continue doing the horrendous crime it has been committing so far.
September 23rd, 2009 at 5:33 pm
I am stunned that Prof. Alemayehu calls for the boycott of the up coming election. Why should Ethiopians give carte blanche to Zenawi while they can use the ballot box to throw him out of office? The good professor seems to have given up, but millions of Ethiopians have not and will not give up. The alternative to giving up is to take up and that is what the opposition and the people are preparing to do. Defeatist stance is no option for them. They will stand against Zenawi and his party and work to replace him. If not in the coming election, they will surely do it later. Incremental success is better than no success at all. Leaving the political forum to Zenawi is what the opposition does not want to do. And it should be commended for doing that.
At the bottom of every article Prof. Alemayehu G. Mariam writes which has almost become a weekly even,t it is mentioned that he is a professor of political science and an attorney. I do not know any Ethiopian qualified with these two professions and writing so frequently with a fervent passion in a language close to perfect. But, with due respect to the professor, I have misgivings. Most often, he writes on a subject almost all of us know - Zenawi and his bad administration. We want the Prof. Alemayehu to write on issues other than Zenawi. There are so many that write about the wicked man.
There are many serious issues. Take the recent discussions between Fayyis Oromia, Mesay Kebede and Jawar Siraj Mohammed on the Oromo and OLF question. They were informative and educational that helped some of us reflect on a major political issue. Now we realize that intellectuals do matter in addressing and even solving our problems. The discussion, I believe, gave the OLF leadership, members and supporters food for thought and created optimism among other Ethiopians. I feel that’s where Prof. Alemayehu is expected to contribute rather than bore us with the obvious.
Professor !! Take some serious issues and teach us.
September 24th, 2009 at 7:21 am
ጎበዝ ኢትዮጵያዊው ሁሉ! ለሃገራችሁ አንድነት ነጻነትና ለመብታችሁ ሁሉ ልክ እንደቀድሞዎቹ አባቶች በእግራቸው ተጉዘው አድዋን ነጻ እንዳወጡት: የነርሱን ጽናት ከሃገር የመውደድ መንፈስ ከደማቸውና ከስጋቸው ውህደት የወረስነውን ሞራል ሁሉ አስታዋሽ የሚያስፈልገን አይደለንምና: ወያኔው ከአሁኑ ምርጫውን አሸንፌያለሁ የማለት አዝማሚያውን በዲስኩር እያሸበረን ባለበት ወቅት: በራሳችን አነሳሽነት: “ለአንድነታችን ለነጻነታችንና ለዲሞክራሲያዊ መብታችን”- ከግንቦት 7 የአንድነት የነጻነትና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ ኢትዮጵያውያን ጋር: “ለአንድነት ለነጻነትና ለዲሞክራሲያዊ መብታችን እንነሳ!!! በምንችለው መንገድ (በገንዘብ መዋጮና ባለን እውቀት ሁሉ) የሚንቀሳቀሱትን የግንቦት 7 ውድ ኢትዮጵያውያን አባሎችን ይቀላቀሉ ይደግፉ:: ወያኔዎች ምንም አያመጡም በሚል ትእቢት እየሳቁብንና እየተሳለቁብን ድንበራችንን ለሱዳን: በሔረስባትን ከፋፍለው በማናቆር ትናንሽ ካርታዎችን ፈጥረው ለመኮብለልና እንደሶማሊያ ለማይቆም ጦርነት እየፈጠሩ ባለበት ወቅት! ” ጎበዙ ኢትዮጵያዊው ሁሉ ንቃትህንና ማንነትህን ለአንድነትህ ለነጻነትህና ለመብትህ እንደአብዛኛው ኢትዮጵያዊው ሁሉ ለውድ ሃገርህ ኢትዮጵያ በግንቦት 7 ንቅናቄ ውስጥ ይሳተፉ! ለሃገርዎ አንድነት ከእርስዎ በላይ ማን አለና:: በሆዳምነት ለወያኔ ያጎበደደዳችሁ እናት ዓለም ኢትዮጵያ ሃገራችን መሃሪ ናትና: ሃገራችሁን ከእባብ ወያኔዎች ለማዳን እራሳችሁንና ቤተሰባችሁን ከእዚህ አስነዋሪና አሳፋሪ ድርጊት በመቆጠብ ለውድ ሃገራችሁ ከልብ ተነሱ!!!
ድል ለኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ!!!
September 24th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
The so called simaglew negn no need to spent any precious second for your sold out concious we are here very much concerned on our beloved nation which is occupied by jungle inhabitants being supported by Ethiopian haters
September 24th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Proff.
Don’t waste your time and energy man, desperation and sadness doesn’t change facts. enjoy life, relax, go to church and spend time with your family.
September 25th, 2009 at 6:18 am
I can’t say CHALA, because you are “WEyane, Gebremalss Zenawi”, One of the parasite waiting punishment soon, from the real Ethiopian. DEDEB, DEDEBIT, ANBETA RAS.
September 25th, 2009 at 11:50 am
chala you are one of our enemy please try to get leston from Ethiopians.or find the place where that can you get help for medical institiution and they will help you to cure from your brain disorder.
September 25th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
Anbese
real ethiopian ops real Ahya dedeb and lower than dirt you sound dragist or chew khat merkana skip reality day dream fack you ass hole
September 26th, 2009 at 10:58 am
I am speaking with no duobt that the coming 2010 election will bring nothing. It is for the reapproval of the Woyane for another term and so…on as far as Woyane continued. The good message for all Ethiopians is to participate or support in armed struggle to end this dirty rigme. No more saying on this other than armed struggle.
September 26th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
so what if the mad “professor” went mad ,do you think will go mad with him,no;continue dear man we will continue.
September 27th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Rahel, you knew verywell weyane members are lower than dirt, thats why you remind for yourself. The word-weyane=Dirty=Dedeb=Dedebit=Zinjero. Rahel be ready to confess being to be Ethiopian or be ready to go….
The Hero,s are on the way. In future, you can’t use the word fack or your bad….
do not be dirty, clean your Mouth & Mind. We are telling you the Truth.
weyane must be remove from the earth, weyane is the most Nationalist & racist group on the earth, after Hitler & Musolini beaten. come on Rahel clean up yourself; Ethiopian will give you the blessed mercy to be the respected Ethiopian Woman forever. Do not be feel your race, feel to be the proud Ethiopian in this civilized World.
LOng Live Ethiopia!!!
September 28th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Anbese
just you know this is for you i print your name .your real given name is madagascar Monkey koltafa means you can not hardly talk a word with out sounding animal (kolatefa) that make you lower than a dirt head to toe bastard
EMF is your living home (zoo) i know they will read it not posibl to post it no problem for me and a lot of peopl you guys are the same narrow minded idots
September 30th, 2009 at 7:14 am
Rahel, If you are continue insulting any person, are you living in the House or in the Jungle?please tell me. I am not angered lijke you, because, I am an Ethiopian living in EMF- Ethiopian Forum.
Rahel, You Know it verywell the “DEDEBIT-ZOO”; still now, you & similar to you needed brainwash.
Rahel, don’t be silly forever, The Madagascar Monkey’s are better than the starved DEDEBIT MONKEYS.
Rahel, I am still now advising you, Try to be the real Ethiopian, Weyane members are in a very complicated situation forgetting their background and making trouble for the innocent Tigray people.
Weyane Authorities are teaching & preaching the people feeling Tigrawi, forgetting Motherland-Ethiopia.
- I am sure, If this hapenning continously, The rest of all provinces decide to independent the Tigray province forever. Ethiopian people are fedup & you knew it verywell.
Rahel, including you, all Tigray province people must be standing from the bottom of their Heart with the others Ethiopian to demolish the Weyane Fascist, racist regime.
Rahel, come on & stop your ….
ኢትዮጵያ ለዘለአለም ትኑር!!!
ድል ለኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ!!!
September 30th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Anbese
what delusional idot man you ask me 2 stupid Qsn. if i live in house yes i live in house , you think all people live in tree house the way your family live, now from tree house like you say living in better place in EMF zoo you are very scriwed up person.
my history tells i am the heart & soul ethiopia with out heart and soul ethiopia will not be ethiopia with confuse ,scriwed up like you so deal with true ethiopian or stay where you are now ( minnesota) and tell your stupid confuse history the reson you are in minnseota is the true ethiopian is ruling ethiopia or shut the fack your stupid zngero mouth
October 1st, 2009 at 8:01 am
Rahel, this question is not stupid. You did not read it carefully.
Rahel, The DEDEBIT Zinjero’s are in the Menilik’s palace waiting a huge public-storm punishment. You could see it soon, before that you & others must be confess rightnow.
Please stop your bad word & f**king stupid zngero Mouth. I thought You are above 25 Years old woman. The Zinjero Mouth is the DEDEBIT JUNGLE life talkatives like the Crime Minster of the Fascist Weyane Governers & all WEYALAS.
Rahel, be a real Ethiopian-Lady feeling as an Ethiopian.
October 2nd, 2009 at 1:19 am
Anese
hahahah weyala ye-weyala lije hang your self or jump from Ap.dog
October 3rd, 2009 at 8:11 am
rahel, this guy advised to you good way for your future life, but yoiu insulted him.why? you are sick still now in diharrea.
amhara said ለአህያ(አድጊ) ማር አይጥማት
rahel, are you ውርንጭላ?