The Unavoidable Crunch

Abate Bejiga



Some of us who had chosen to see the measure EPRDF took with a favorable outlook did not have a choice other than witnessing the whole world had almost ended up on the neck of the newly elected government, which could result in harming the nation’s international relations that had been nurtured so sagaciously for a long time, and it could definitely be a drastic setback. This might be the right time to ask whether the measure was necessary or not.

The assumption is that the measure was taken in order to avoid unnecessary gridlock that will be created on the day-to-day work of the government. Yet, even if it could be said that it was well intended if it does not have support from the international community that has taken interest in what is taking place in the country, it means it should be scrapped. A government like EPRDF that has the support of the key international players is also expected to have their counseling, which means every major steps the party takes need to have their node. But from what we are seeing that is not the case, because sooner or later all the donor countries could retaliate by introducing some kind of a sanction, which would mean taking the country back to square one again for simply implementing one rule, a rule intended to benefit the whole nation by saving it from wasting precious time and resources because of unnecessary wrangling that will arise among the elected parties.

The other important issue here is, the international community, because they are parting with their hard earned money by giving it out in a form of an aid, it will automatically buy them a stake in what is taking place in the country, and even if it is not going to be spelled out in black-and-white, that tacit understanding is there. Whether it is directly or indirectly they could be benefited at some point in the future from what they are doing now, which means everything they are engaged in, more or less, is a future investment. At this point in time, what they give out might be in a form a financial aid because the nation is not at all advanced to solicit any other kind of arrangement since it is not advanced in none of the things it is doing, but that does not necessarily mean that it does not hold any future promise.

And that future has nothing to do with one political party that has found itself somehow on power, because what it is given is a facilitator’s role from its benefactors, which means the minute it made itself useless for the purpose they have in mind for it, it will make itself dispensable. As a result, when that is looming, the best way out is to be flexible, because even if the whole world knew that TPLF was the smallest ethnic player in the country, at the time when they were giving it the responsibility of running the nation, the outside experts must have studied what was exactly happening in the country. There was no one better than TPLF to take the responsibility, because they must have demonstrated some kind of a convincing capability and dynamism.

However, if there was a catch, as long they do what they are expected, which was appropriating whatever aid was coming into the country as equitably as possible, they had passed their first test. Then the next test was they had to play ball with all donor nations, which requires some tactfulness and subtlety, which they had passed with flying colors, and most probably that was the second phase of their administration, the first one being availing what the strapped nation needed.

At this juncture, it was time for the third test, which was to transform the administration into a democratic system according to the outcome of a democratic election. It is needless to say who the election attracted as observers, which included a former American president and a high level of EU officials, and the election outcome had a mixed endorsement, where for the most part it was said to be a fairly conducted election. This was not bad by any third world standard for a nation that held its first ever democratic election. Everyone went home knowing that what took place was a major step forward in democratizing the nation, because, even if the makeup of the major opposition party was skewed, it was an issue that will be corrected on the next election where every ethnic group, without vote fragmentation, could end up representing their own regions, resulting on equal power sharing.

One thing we can learn from this scenario is that democracy is a powerful tool that will introduce checks and balances into any system if it is applied correctly and once it took root, the focus of the people will totally be on different aspects of their life. It is only when there is no political strife any nation could go forward with its development, because there will not be any group that will be left behind or there will not be any group, unless it has a huge physical presence that will move its weight around.

The lesson learned from this is no matter how frequently misgivings were flying around, at one point there will almost be a natural correction, where TPLF is expected to eventually bow out after handing power to whoever will be elected democratically. Still, some of us will not at all doubt that possibility, because it is not late to make the necessary correction. Even if CUD is not going to be the best counterpart to work with, simply because of the prevalent political differences, when it comes to making decision, because of their number, there is not much they can do without the will of the majority, which is the ruling party. But the rest of their democratic rights, as genuine Ethiopians, will have to be observed, and if that is going to displease those who are going to work with them, there is always a way out, which is to call another election so that those who will have no problem in observing everyone’s democratic right will be brought into the parliament.

This will bring us to the key issue at hand, which might be the time and resource that will be wasted because of stalemates that might be created, provided that this was the pretext why EPRDF took the measure to adjust the rules, obviously without consulting their donor partners, which would have not jumped on their neck if it were otherwise. The solution here is to let that be witnessed by the big number of observers that are watching with a keen interest what is taking place in the country, and the presumption, in fact, is there will not be a threatening gridlock, although, if there is anyone who wants to get their way, it might obviously be difficult, which will bring us to the point where the time TPLF should bow out is inevitably approaching, simply because that is the vagary of how things work in a democracy.

In case TPLF members have a different plan and agenda, they will be hard pressed to implement them, because the possibilities are getting grim by the day, without mentioning the various threats that are hovering over the nation that does not deserve it. Therefore, as far as the administration in office is concerned, it will be good for the whole nation if they do not create vulnerabilities parities like CUD can exploit, because even if they have a long way to go before they can be trusted to play any responsible role, they could, in the meantime, create havoc, which could end up being destructive on the advancement the nation is striving to make. The only way to avoid such a calamity is by not tampering with the rules of democracy, especially when the other partners are not buying into the reasoning that is being used, and a democratic system itself has a lot of built-in mechanisms that should be allowed to make their own corrections.