A Wise Move Its Time has Come

Even if OLF members have their own website the amount of information they disseminate was not more than what was taking place in the regional conflict scene and their silence must have been unnerving to those who might have wanted to know what they were after. Their recent press release declaring that they have formed alliance with various parities was a shocker, especially when seeing CUD in the list, because that is a difficult decision to make. Once CUD is helped to its feet, it is difficult to tell what it will be after. It had attracted a lot of attention around the world and has garnered misguided sympathizers from various corners no one believed would be swayed that easily. Some of the swayed sympathizers had gone as far as depriving the existing administration the budgetary assistance they were giving it, which would have resulted in crippling the nation if the World Bank had not come up to the rescue. Hence, helping such a party that had made such a stir to its feet could be dangerous and it is not going to be a picnic for sure.

It is not only that, OLF once had worked with TPLF or EPRDF even if TPLF had the upper hand because of the support it was getting from EPLF and the end result was when there was a disagreement in power sharing, all OLF was able to do was walk away from the table, simply because TPLF had gathered enough support around it that enabled it to get rid of its allies that helped it to be where it was by simply refusing to share power. There is no reason why the same thing could not be repeated, because even if the support CUD gathered around it was crushed this time that dangerous alliance could always lurk around waiting for the opportune time, and that time might be when CUD is back to its feet with the help of the alliance. Its subversive activity could only be curtailed at the government level, but while struggling for power it will be easy to tip the balance, because all it takes is to have enough misguided support. Those who fear CUD will take back things to where they were would wakeup one day to find out it has become a reality. Therefore, if there is something important for the alliance to heed of is to recognize that CUD has a dangerous alliance that wanted to bring back the old system and what is preventing that is the help the nation is getting from those that want to see the system becoming democratized.

What this means is the job that is awaiting OLF and its alliance is very daunting where they have to apply carefully calculated measures so that no one from the alliance will tip the whole process to its advantage. Whatever mechanism they might come up with, they also have to get acceptance and recognition from those who want to see the system to become democratized and to do so they will have to put their secession drive on the backburner for good, because there is no need for it. People are broadening the sphere of those with whom they are doing business and as it is, there are many hindrances that will go into the way of two independent geographical regions that are considering themselves as independent entities. The reason being after erecting boundaries, it is difficult to bring them down and unless there is some sacrifice, those divided localities would want to continue to exist independently even if it is going to be a lacking existence in many areas.

The only problem in the country was one minority group was exploiting the others by subjugating them to serve a given purpose that is not mutually beneficial for all that were involved, leaving various localities to be fodder for the one that was taking advantage of the situation. All the new alliance will have to do is to aim at that because that was the cause of all the problems that were holding the nation back from moving forward. TPLF/EPRDF has recognized that problem and that is why they introduced the regionalizing of the localities by ethnicity so that no other ethnic group will exploit another without its full participation and that is what mutual benefit means where all involved parties will work hard together and they will share whatever is generated equitably, without anyone claiming a lion’s share. Even if it is not perfect yet and there are some that are claimed to be still voracious, at least the program is working, and what we have is those that are in charge are taking advantage of their position, yet they are working harder than before, which is proven by the breadth of the base of those that are genuinely benefited that is much broader when compared to previous regimes. The primary responsibility of the alliance should be to correct all wrongs, because almost everyone is going to be represented equally in the alliance inferring from what was stated, and when that is the case, even if there could be someone who will call the shot, things will not go out of whack, and those who call the shots will have their reputation on the line.

Everyone in the country knows currently that the Tigreans have corrected the many wrongs the Amharas took for granted and that is a plus for their reputation and in the future that is how they will be judged and entrusted with responsibilities. The same applies to the Oromos if they mange to play a leading role, which is the most likelihood and what we are expecting from the alliance is the emerging of the next party that would win a landslide victory at the next election and be at the helm. The leaders of the EPRDF have said that they will hand over power to any party that represents the whole nation and the new alliance could meet that requirement head on as long as they manage to put a cap on the unhealthy ambition of CUD like the government did, which almost cost it dearly.

The recent OLF press release that was posted on some sites, whether it was leaked or released has touched on all the problems tactfully and one thing they have to recognize at this early stage is that they are a political party that has the support of the various liberation fronts that they will need badly to help them run the nation since they need a force to help them observe law and order. That will give them equal footing with EPRDF and OLF will be playing the role TPLF was playing all along, which means, for starters, the nation might end up with two equally powerful parties that will take turn to run the nation according to what the electors are going to decide, and that was why CUD was somehow unreal from the start because when it comes to having a force to help it run the nation, it is difficult to say where they will come from. Since it was a one-ethnic-group show it would not be different from TPLF except that their goals were totally different. One desperately wants to bring back the old system that is labeled as oppressive and narrow while the other one wants the whole nation to have an equal role to play in what is happening in their own community and in the nation as a whole, and the party that will walk in its shoes at least has the groundwork done for it.

All in all, the incoming party will have to feel confident that already it has become the best candidate the nation was looking for to challenge EPRDF on the next election and since EPRDF might be the only good thing that had happened to the nation in a while, they do not have to portray them as a terrible group because except in the camp of their foes, the rest of public has a different opinion about them. Which means they have to focus their strength on making themselves acceptable from within and without and the nation’s outside allies should be on top of their agenda, because the nation will be dependent on what it gets from them for a long time to come. At the same time they will have to smooth the existing rift among the various ethnic groups, and except that the alliance is going to be a welcomed formidable force, it does not mean there will not be other alliances or parties that will come to the fore even if it might have to be at the expense of fragmentation, which demonstrates the alliance will be a solution to the problems the nation is facing as long as they are doing things by the book and promise they will do better than TPLF that are said to be overly voracious when it comes to rewarding themselves. The good thing, however, is they had worked hard for whatever they were rewarding themselves with, and if it were the other way around there might have not been enough to reward themselves with.