Is division our answer to the woes of a bleeding Motherland? By Amoraw Ferede 1. In the 1960s, leftist Ethiopian students in Europe and America could not sit and discuss their differences, and they brought those childish differences to Ethiopia in 1974 to create a blood bath, killing each other and a young generation from 1975 to 1977, finally enthroning a self-serving dictatorship called Derg which imposed a brutal rule right up to 1991, was badly divided, and it finally paved the way for the enthronement of an even more brutal regime under TPLF which (i) successfully dismembered Ethiopia, (ii) plunged Ethiopia, in 2000, into the bloodiest war between brothers in Ethiopian history, and (iii) was given time to lay down the foundations for still more disaster in practically all spheres of Ethiopian life. The elite was responsible for all that disaster. 2. In 2001, TPLF/EPRDF itself failed to resolve internal differences and it got split, thereby entrenching one faction to continue with all the beastly brutality it can muster. The elite were also authors of that disaster. 3. In the summer of 2003, some 4 legally registered and genuine parties and those in the Diaspora met in the USA and agreed on the establishment of UEDF, without any discussion of the byelaws. After the meeting was over and conference participants were gone, the byelaws were cooked up by some insider group, led by EPRP and Dr. Beyene Petros. Those draft byelaws were imposed, Derg-style, on the parties legally operating in Ethiopia, and that clearly led to serious objections regarding objectives, organization, division of responsibilities and the strangely cooked-up rotation system of appointment of leaders among only Beyene, Merera and Fassika Belette of EPRP. The secret authors of the byelaws, with Beyene standing as the front man, refused to discuss those serious differences with UEDP and AEUP, and UEDF was practically killed before it was born when AEUP and UEDP withdrew from the whole shoddy game. The elite of the left was responsible for that failure again. 4. Again in 2003, UEDP-Mehin and AEUP started negotiations to unite the two parties. However, Lidetu was the central actor in destroying that since he claimed, as he did in late 2005, that AEUP was planning to swallow his party. He said this because AEUP, with some 500,000 members, had refused to be represented equally on the Central Committee and Executive Committee since that would be a total negation of the principle of proportional representation which Lidetu s party advocated vigorously but would not see it applied to the merger. Incidentally, Lidetu did the same during the formation of Kinijit in 2004, and again in late 2005 when he went even further to stop the legalization of Kinijit, again claiming, that Kinijit had to be stopped from swallowing UEDP-Medhin, which did not really exist by about the end of September 2005. Again, the deformed elite is the author of another disaster. 1
5. In November 2005, Kinijit s entire leadership was thrown into jail using trumped-up charges. Several elected members of Kinijit joined Parliament for various reasons, and they soon forgot their leaders by completely abandoning the Kinijit platform and dividing up into factions and groups which had no legal justification for existence, but they were greatly appreciated and encouraged by EPRDF since such division suited its undemocratic and deceptive designs in Parliament. Indeed, EPRDF claimed that it had opposition in parliament and that it was negotiating and accommodating that opposition, and it demonstrated that repeatedly by issuing press releases and agreements that had very little value for genuine democratization for which EPRDF did not care, but it valued the propaganda to appease its western supporters. That was again the elite involved in deception and betrayal of the people s democratic agenda. 6. Now we come to Kinijit s support groups in the Diaspora. The principal actors happen to be those in Europe and America, and these actors appear to have that same old problem of refusing to dialogue, negotiate and settle differences in a civilized way. The problem is that there is very little democracy in them! Some information available to us suggests that there is a project to form a Kinijit Party in the Diaspora. If that is true, then it is outside all Kinijit principles of operating within the Ethiopian Constitution, and a number of reasons exist against such effort: (i). First and foremost, the political struggle against tyranny and dictatorship cannot be effectively waged from London, Brussels or Washington. This was exactly why UEDF died in the Fall of 2003 since the EPRP-led faction wanted to lead the political struggle from the USA. (ii) Proclamation 46/1993 on Party Registration does not recognize parties which have foreign members. Hence, a party established in the Diaspora with non- Ethiopian members cannot have national or international recognition so that it will not have the capacity to advance the authentic Kinijit agenda. (iii) A Kinijit party created in the Diaspora will not have the approval and support of the Kinijit leadership in jail and the people of Ethiopia since it cannot be held accountable, just like EPRDF or Derg. (iv) Attempting to form a Kinijit party or faction in the Diaspora is bound to split the Kinijit Support groups which are valid even according Proclamation 46/1993. Such division is destructive to the Kinijit agenda and it is no less damaging than that of Lidetu s actions or those of the various other factions in parliament. (v) The formation of a Kinijit faction in the Diaspora will kill the support and spirit of Kinijit in the Diaspora which is as much tired of factionalism and division as the people of Ethiopia and the jailed leaders. (vi) The creation of a faction is symptomatic of lack of patience, lack of capacity for dialogue, lack of compromise, lack of a sense of responsibility and commitment to the core principles of Kinijit, and a victim of the dangers 2
of extremism and the I know-all syndrome of the immature student movement of the 1960s ( See Kinijit Election Manifesto, pp. 5-9). (vii) Raising such a divisive agenda at this time when HR 5680 calls for concerted support, and when the release of those in Kaliti is of utmost importance is a betrayal of Kinijit s popular cause. Fellow Ethiopians, We squandered a whole year without good consolidated direction. KNA, KIL and Kinijit- Europe were expected to lead the way since Ethiopians in the Diaspora were solidly behind them. The many demonstrations in Europe and America and the hundreds of articles in the electronic media clearly testify to a convincingly strong support for Kinijit s ideals and visions by all. However, the leadership in KNA, KIL and Kinijit-Europe had a lot to be desired. What was even worse is the fact that factions appear to have been developing. Andargachew Tsige wrote a book entitled A freedom fighter who knows no freedom. It appears that the leaderships of KNA, JKIL and Kinijit-Europe are in the same boat: they do not seem to have internalized accepted democratic principles as clearly stated in Kinijit s Election Manifesto ( See pp.5-11) since they have badly failed to resolve their petty differences in a democratic way. Indeed, when the four founding members of Kinijit came together in November 2005, they had somewhat different political orientations, different leadership ambitions, and great differences in social and professional background. However, all had a critical concern in common: the welfare and democratization of Ethiopia and that was the overriding unifying factor and they had to forge that coalition in order to realize a unified and democratic Ethiopia for all. Age, gender, professional background, religion, previous political orientation, or ethnic origin did not matter! Even the strength of each of the four political parties did not matter much since AEUP, by far the largest and the strongest of the them all, gave up a lot to welcome the formation of a coalition that had a lot more promise for Mother Ethiopia. That was their first great achievement, and the Hailu Shawel leagacy. They almost succeeded in taking over political power peacefully! Ethiopia s great mean and women of all ages, ethnic groups and religions joined hands to break that warring tradition and usher in a change that respects the will of the people. That could not be since a few critical preconditions were missing! Hence, Kinijit s leaders were all thrown into jail for daring to lead the way for a peaceful democratic change in a country which has seen only war as the only means to power over the last 35 years. They all knew about the grave dangers and they took the risk, hoping that the foundations for freedom and democracy will have been securely laid and that Ethiopia s youth will then pick up the remains to realize the ideals and visions of Kinijit. That is where they left it in November 2005, and it is still there today! Ethiopian students picked up the pieces and tried to go on, but they were not well organized, but they paid dearly all the same! One year and more have been wasted away without much direction form KNA, KIL and Kinijit- Europe which have several committed men and women, but they appear to have had poor 3
organization and management. Internal democracy appears to be shaky; byelaws seem to be half-baked; student-like and immature factions seem to have fertile ground; priorities seem to be unclear; transparency and accountability appear to be rather unwelcome and respect for the will of the members of the support groups seems to be lukewarm. Indeed, Kinijit s principles appear to require more introduction in the leadership circles of Kinijit support groups. Patience, compromise, unity, high moral standards, respect for each other and priorities seem to be confused. A couple of recent upshots of these shortcomings are (i) KIL and KNA are busy fighting each other instead of campaigning for the passage of HR 5680, taking advantage of the stark revelations in the findings of the Independent Inquiry Commission and the personal witnesses of its leading members, and (ii) despair and disappointment both at home and in the Diaspora about the tragic developments in KIL and KNA that effectively resemble those of Lidetu and the satellite Kinijit in the Ethiopian Parliament. Fellow Ethiopians: Is not the elite tired of failing and betraying Ethiopia since the 1960s? Do we still have to claim that we know everything and that everybody else has to follow us even to hell, as our elite have always done with the exception of those elite that founded and led Kinijit to victory in May 2005? Are we not tired of bleeding a nation that trusts us, but is apparently repeatedly betrayed by elements that have not even liberated themselves from narrow and sectarian interests? Why should Kinijit s support groups in the Diaspora be led by people that are not popularly elected? Why do Kinijit support groups have to be led by We know all elements when the members are the driving force for the strength and sustenance of Kinijit in the Diaspora? Is there no sense of justice, transparency and accountability to dictate that Kinijit s support groups be internally democratic? How can people that do not practice internal democracy within and between Kinijit support groups be honest to the Kinijit s principles in Kinijit s Election Manifesto? How can you stand for Kinijit when you are not capable of solving problems through compromise and give-and-take? Do you recall how Kinijit was formed by accommodating a snake like Lidetu as Vice-President, bypassing many that were more distinguished and credible, in order to advance the higher goal of achieving unity of the opposition on election day? Why do we have people in KNA and KIL that have little or no respect for Kinijit s high moral and democratic principles to guide Kinijit support groups to achieve their lofty goals of liberating the imprisoned leaders and supporters and advancing the cause of a united and democratic Ethiopia in the shortest possible time? 4
I appeal to all factions of KNA and KIL to rally behind Kinijit s democratic principles, make all necessary compromises, stop issuing press releases, desist from forming factions or parties in the Diaspora or elsewhere, prepare byelaws that ensure full internally democracy, strengthen the unity of all Kinijit support groups, elect all your leaders openly and go full force (i) on the interrupted campaign to help enact HR 5680, and (ii) to secure the release of Kinijit leaders and supporters. All else can wait! Remember, none of you, if you are honest, can afford to betray the Kinijit principles or m its leadership or the Ethiopian people, and none can afford to abandon the huge sacrifices of hundreds of lives lost, thousands imprisoned, thousands dislocated and millions still agonizing under the yolk of dictatorship. If you don t feel all that extensive pain and a backward Motherland, then you are surely inhuman, and that may be where our problem lies! -------<br> Amoraw Ferede can be reached for comments at gobezdink@yahoo.com. www.ethiomedia.com 5