One More To Go

The final step in what is taking place in the country could last for another millennium and the fact that we can talk about it on the eve of a millenium might be as good as putting the ground work or a foundation that will last a millennium. The third step should be the final step that will direct the country toward its rightful path, which is democracy. No matter how people would judge the Derg’s contribution to the country, even if it was a painful measure for some, when we look back it must have been a bold step into a different future. Yet, it is difficult to say if anyone had seen it that way since the preoccupation was to get rid of the then so called feudal system, in their turn who had a weighty contribution since they were the ones who drove the Italians out of the country as it is recorded in the history books of the nation. What this would mean is each administration had some role to play before it becomes too stale, because Derg was stale from the outset except that it got worse as time progressed. If seen from such a parallel the present regime might have been similar to Derg simply because they had become unpopular quickly even if the unpopularity is felt more in certain quarters than others, why it is difficult to compare them with the Derg and there is unrelenting political infighting going on.

One of the major anomaly of the Imperial regime was they became complacent and forgot reality simply because things had fallen in place without their working too hard for them, as the political environment was like that after World War II. In a nutshell they had the blimp behind them simply because the Europeans, especially Great Britain was responsible to see to it that they get what they needed to get ahead, which had meant they were getting help from every direction. There is a similar deja vu when the lost child made it back to the sphere where it belonged to.

The fact that everything was concentrated around the capital coupled with many other hosts of problems had led to the escalation of the dissatisfaction and that led to their demise. Even the movement at the time of the Derg seemed to have focused in getting rid of the central administration that had become somehow indolent by taking away one of their lucrative income generating source, which was the land they owned in the countryside as absentee landlords and in the cities where a high caliber real estate speculation had been taking place. But those who claimed to be Marxists that includes the existing regime are not trying to correct that mistake even after seeing the damage it is doing because they might fear needlessly it will bring back the old regime to life, whose ghost must be haunting them, one of the reasons the nation needs a fresh start.

What is interesting was how events unfolded and for various reasons Derg was not able to do what it started doing and another administration had to take its place. What was not good about this administration that fought itself into office was that it was based on a single ethnic group, which was not different from the previous regime that had the Amharas as the single ethnic group in the center of things even if as everyone knows it that might have been so because they were the only qualified group. This shows the era of the Amharas had started declining since they did not have their finger on the power button anymore, as well the professional disparity will also disappear. However, unless there is a major correction in the consecutive elections it could easily be replaced by the Tigreans, which is going to be the legacy of the Derg.

The biggest mistake that was committed was when everyone stood aside and let a small ethnic group take power hoping that they will turn things around for the better. What the misgiving now is they are wielding too much power to the point where they have a stranglehold on the economy and they are the ones who are calling all the shots in a nation they are not even 10 percent of the population. The same was happening at the time of the earlier regimes since the Shoan reign had been established and those who were in charge of things were the Amharas. But the others ethnic groups also had a fair share and say simply because they had roles to play in the nation building. But this time it looks like it is a foreign invasion. Things will always be like that as long as those in charge are not democratically elected and represent every stakeholder in the nation. Politics itself is not different from business because elected bodies are working day and night to give equal representation to the region that elected them to the point where if every region is doing its job to the best of its ability the overall country will get ahead, but if one region fails behind that will be a minus on the development that would be attained.

On the other hand, if who is in charge of the administration is one ethnic group that automatically disqualifies such an administration simply because in a nation no single ethnic group that is a small minority should be in charge unless something is terribly wrong. There is no such kind of administration in the civilized world. Yet, if one ethnic group is a majority, at least it could be represented according to its number and that might give it advantage over the others, but it cannot function normally unless it has the support of the others no matter how small their number is. But when a minority is in charge by applying whatever means is applicable, it is not difficult to see there is something wrong.

That is the reality in Ethiopia today, because TPLF should not have been allowed to usurp power, but that was how things unfolded, and they are where they are today. Luckily, they are working hard to show to the others that they are very much different from the Amharas and they have demonstrated that by giving an unobstructed freedom to every region, without mentioning article 39 that is being tested and is failing miserably. Yet when it comes to running the country they have no choice other than putting themselves on top of everything simply because they are going to be held responsible if something goes wrong. Nobody is going to say they were sharing power equitably and they were sabotaged when something goes wrong, because that is what will happen if they put anyone else on the key posts. However, if they were showing partiality in their hiring practice and are giving unnecessary precedent to their own ethnic group that might have been considered as wrongdoing. But the fact that their number is small will save them from such a blame where when it comes to hiring they will not take a lot of jobs from the other ethnic groups. But keeping the top posts for themselves is doing the job effectively since they will avoid a lot of problem by simply doing that and they should not be blamed for doing so although they could be unduly voracious, which might require some check and balance since they are straight out of the wood and could have an elaborate scheme about the future. The private sector is an open jungle for everyone where the survival of the fittest is put to the test and people are doing business even if some might have advantages because of connections and interest sharing.

What is important here is the outcome, which might not be as bad as everyone expects it where their region seems to be benefited better than the others or that might not even be the case, which means sometimes they can get away by calling themselves gold because there are more good things they are doing for the nation when compared to what they are doing for themselves and that is how they should be judged. To look at things like this might require to be unbiased and the nation needs a good dose of unbiased outlooks because it is such outlooks that will be the final arbiter of what is taking place in the nation. Whatever they could be accumulating now should be blamed on those who let them find themselves in such unobstructed position to do so, because people are dealing with heavily armed people that are getting support from sources that want to see a different Ethiopia for a reason it is not difficult to fathom, except that the earlier regimes did not have a lot of friends and it is difficult to say what they had done wrong.

What is good is that had passed and no one wants it to come back in any form because people have started enjoying an unprecedented freedom with all its problems and that has started when Derg was able to throw the yoke of exploitation. TPLF/EPRDF added on it when they gave every region their own decision-making power under one federal government. Now the next step is ushering what will stay for a long time when these regions that had been rendered a favorable service by various regimes --because if we look back every regime had something good when it started out and will get sour as it nears its demise-- and the final straw is to put their elected representatives in the government office so that they will not lose sleep over the country’s politics and taking such measure will be as good as putting it on auto pilot most of the time. Most probably doing that is going to be a tough challenge in any way it is looked at, especially in Ethiopia because the whole nation is going to be challenged on its wisdom of using its freedom properly to introduce a democratic governance.

Because, the whole public seems to be preoccupied with what takes place in the political sphere as we are now at the time of this writing. It might seem a bit scary because it is going to be like taking it out on a deadly enemy, which is a government that is not elected that everyone is losing sleep over, although according to records, the case of the regime in office is different and it had to be like that because of missing components. But once that is behind us, when the election time comes and all the requirements are met, the whole nation is going to be ready for a new era, because it is difficult to make an enemy of a government that is democratically elected, even if there might be some diehards that would find it difficult to live a productive life without taking advantage of others. It is not only that, such people do not have place in the new nation. Since their number will be few they will have no choice other than being minted again to think and work with the rest of the world.

The whole suggestion is it will be helpful if people remember while celebrating the millenium that they are in the process of putting the ground work of coming up with a system that will last for many milleniums, because the only system that seems to be flourishing is democracy. What will happen to the industrious and success-oriented Tigreans are accumulating while those who once claimed to be omnipotent are going lacking in everything, including leading roles in successful establishments the regime is creating? Whatever is under their monopoly will be opened to a nationwide competition and their interest will be considered part of the interest of their region, because in a democracy there is no nationalization nor confiscation since that would mean punishing success, and if they abuse power too much the general population can easily punish them in a democracy through a court system. Therefore, the solution is working hard again to put an elected government in office by exploiting every available means, especially if the nation wants any kind of wrongdoing to come to a halt.