The Ethiopian PM Blew It Again
The PM blew it at the opposition effort before heading to Copenhagen where he is accused of attaining a mediocre achievement some are calling a sellout. Nevertheless, the fact that the financially strapped advanced world had promised a paltry $10 billion should be looked positively because of what it would enable to accomplish. However, this topic is about what Mr. Melese Zenawi had said concerning working with the opposition in case the oppositions win enough number of seats to force such an arrangement. He said that such an arrangement similar to what is happening in Kenya and Zimbabwe is unthinkable, because opposition parties have their own special agenda that is reactionary if we can borrow a popular terminology of the student movement era that was the cause of where the country is today, where it will be heading in the future, and might deserve some credit for their foresight. However, if there is a grim outlook, it is only TPLF that has a clear vision for the country and knows the direction it should take if we have to prevent waste of time or what we call (weha keda weha melese) in Amharic language. Because it does not make sense to resort to a private agenda bent to look after the interest of a few.
Everyone knows the nation reached where it is now in a haphazard way because if we can sit down and ask those who participated in the movement what was really behind their decisive drive to bring change in the country, they would say that they had a very serious aversion toward the "adharies" or reactionaries and the only way we and others like us would have been satisfied was if we saw their destruction, which was very simple because they were feudal. As feudal they were heavily dependent on what they were getting from the land they had amassed over the years and once that is snatched out of their hand they practically will be immobilized. Such measure had been applied in many communist countries and even if it was not possible to realize a very positive and progressive outcome it was at least possible to eliminate a class structure where there were only a few land owning individuals at the top who were exploiting the others to the point where at one point they could have asked the peasants who were working for them to work only for food and hand over everything else they generated. What that would have been was direct slavery and because of that their being dispossessed of their earthly belongings they amassed in the form of real estate made sense because as members of a feudal system they were backward and did not know other means of making money, in spite of the fact they were claiming to be civilized and advanced.
There was nothing wrong with that, because by bringing a small number of society members to the level of the masses, it had been possible to create some kind of a level playing field and this landholding group would still be ahead of the rest of the peasantry because of their life experience, or even they might have stashed money or other salable items such as a horde of vehicles and household items they can sell and avail themselves cash that could enable them change their situation swiftly. They were allowed at least to continue owning the house they were living in, in addition to a place of work that could be in many forms. There was nothing wrong with it except that as time passes the whole intent of the drive had started to be clear, because the drive might have been after just a change of hands where a landholding group and some of the elite who had direct relation to it could be made disadvantaged with a minimal loss of life. Other than that it was a different version of the same ruling class that felt it was made an outcast and left out from the lucrative wealth-accumulating craze that revolted. The other marginalized ethnic groups in the country were systematically allowed to play roles that were only symbolic, because they did not have the military might nor the expertise to run a country. Therefore, the change they were allowed to enjoy was only noticeable in the countryside where the big majority of the people were farmers and what took place was rationing the available land into small parcels and grant the peasants to own the title of the land that they cannot sell, mortgage, nor rent out. It does not mean they have not enjoyed the freedom they were given because they immediately started working for themselves and they had shown good result so far, although their effort had failed to feed the nation and that failure had been blamed on the population explosion.
Once TPLF/EPRDF took power if there was a very important aspect they introduced, it was that they augmented the level of the freedom the people were enjoying and came up with a federal system where each ethnic group will be fully in charge of what takes place in its own region and will have to work in a federal setup. This was one of the jewels of their achievements and now there are hooligans who are disguising as opposition parties and are determined to ruin this kind of near perfect arrangement because, literally, some people have become displaced simply because they are caught in the a place they probably called their own wrongly and now this group is working hard to deceive the public by claiming that they are the best solution for the problems the country is strapped with. However, most of us know that they are the ones who are responsible for what is happening in the nation because it was their job and responsibility not to take a very radical measure that changed the political and economical landscape of the nation. We cannot also forget they and the country had been rescued from becoming pioneers by being the first nation in the region to go into disarray, where anarchy would have reigned similar to what is taking place in Somalia and our country would have been the first to be where Somalia is today, because once they lost the support they were getting from the Soviet Union because of the change that took place on the global political landscape, they did not have anywhere else to turn to. It would have been unpalatable for the West to work with turncoats who might not even want to apologize for their wrong doing, because they were so arrogant and ignorant, a reality that might have not changed up to now.
And now what is unfortunate is they are the ones what the opposition is going to be made up of, because it had always been a wait and see attitude hoping that TPLF might falter at one point. But that did not happen and will not happen in the foreseeable future, because the way things are done are different and the world that had given the nation its back is no longer doing so. That is badly needed for a nation that is so backward, although it is making all the right advances toward the right direction. Taking a look at what is happening in the agriculture sector alone shows that the nation will start feeding itself if those who have the means and know-how are allowed to tackle the agricultural problem and that has already started taking place.
The problem now is disrupting all this effort is comparable to a daylight robbery, because those who will be benefited from the current opposition activity are not the Ethiopian populace, it could be a few interest groups whose sole drive could be bolstering their own needs. When we look at their number they are laughable and the only reason why they matter is the big majority of the people still do not firmly know what is right or wrong for the nation. In a situation like this some forces could manage to sway the decision making process of people, in this case voters, toward their false claim, and that is the reason why the PM is correct when he said that it is not possible to work with this kind of individuals who are determined to do lots of harm to the unknowing public. This means that the government can always use its veto power to change any unbecoming election outcome.
What this makes very clear is the election exercise could be after all futile, because the public still needs more time to know which is the best direction to follow, since some of the current living condition problems that are afflicting them might make them think that they are on a wrong track, when in fact they are not. To make things worse, as said earlier there are sleek politicians who are rubbing salt on the wound by saying that we have the best solution for you, whereas what they will certainly do is take the nation back to where it was where one ethnic group was having everything under its control, while through the process there will be a few who will be lining up their own pocket, which was the major source of the problem that started all this unstable environment which by itself is another long story that is not possible to go into. For those who want to line up their pocket there is the private sector that is open for everyone. That is why the general public is backward now although they were around for more than 100 years in the same form they are now where a given ethnic group had taken advantage of the situation to advance its own cause only. Currently, it is possible to see them out of charactre wherever they are and are plotting to cause another disruption to take back what had been attained to where it was before TPLF took power and declared a freedom where everyone can live in a federation without no one taking advantage of the others. The outcomes show that 19 years might not be enough to give birth to genuine political parties that have their base in the grass root, not in the camp of the former ruling class no matter what kind of forms or names they are taking or are calling since this group had come very close to qualify the nation as a pioneer to live in a similar chaos Somalia is living in today. That had been averted by the effort of many sources and that had left those who are claiming to be the current oppositions licking their wounds for many years, because no one was hearing from them prior to three months of the 2005 election. Out of a sudden they came out with a CUD banner that required the applying of some unfortunate force to curtail their drive to severely damage the nation, in spite of the fact that no one wants to harm the members of its own society, even if when they are in the wrong side of things.
Therefore, the question that needs answering is and if everyone agrees, all the effort that will be wasted on the coming election should be averted and directed toward a campaign similar to the "zemecha" that will last for another five years with the hope that it will not only be possible to nurture the general public by equipping it how to visualize what is good for its future, but it might also be possible to create the opportunity where political parties could also be nurtured as stated earlier that have their base deeply entrenched in the lives and problems of the big majority of people who are the grassroots instead of being swindled by a small group of elite that is out to avenge TPLF and those who had tried to work with them to better the overall welfare of the nation, as well as their own lives, because not doing so will be allowing a child’s play where soiling oneself with deliberate wrongdoing is tolerated and there is going to be someone who has to pay a high price for the mess that will be created. If we really look at it that is what is happening in the nation, although some of the good achievements might outweigh such outlooks. This is witnessed by the lack of genuine opposition since what the nation has is interest groups that know there is some kind of channel that had been opened and it is up for grabs by anyone who can put oneself in a position to misappropriate it. But the reality is, this channel or source of money or aid or whatever we want to call it is there because those who are giving it out know at least there is a concerted effort to put it to good work. Once that is gone and this corrupt and self indulging individuals get power somehow, it is certain that it will disappear, and through the process some unabashed individuals might get rich and that is not what we want to see happening. That is why there is a police force and law and order around the world because there will always be some groups that want to break the law or take advantage of things. What this means is the coming election is at best an education session where like any fire-drill the participants will get the opportunity to learn new things, because it seems that no one is ready yet to play the opposition role and with all the good intentions, we have failed to bring forward the proper kind of opposition party the country needs, and this is witnessed by the lack of a political party that has its base in the grassroots, not in some urban elite who are hungry to line up their pocket.
Everyone knows the nation reached where it is now in a haphazard way because if we can sit down and ask those who participated in the movement what was really behind their decisive drive to bring change in the country, they would say that they had a very serious aversion toward the "adharies" or reactionaries and the only way we and others like us would have been satisfied was if we saw their destruction, which was very simple because they were feudal. As feudal they were heavily dependent on what they were getting from the land they had amassed over the years and once that is snatched out of their hand they practically will be immobilized. Such measure had been applied in many communist countries and even if it was not possible to realize a very positive and progressive outcome it was at least possible to eliminate a class structure where there were only a few land owning individuals at the top who were exploiting the others to the point where at one point they could have asked the peasants who were working for them to work only for food and hand over everything else they generated. What that would have been was direct slavery and because of that their being dispossessed of their earthly belongings they amassed in the form of real estate made sense because as members of a feudal system they were backward and did not know other means of making money, in spite of the fact they were claiming to be civilized and advanced.
There was nothing wrong with that, because by bringing a small number of society members to the level of the masses, it had been possible to create some kind of a level playing field and this landholding group would still be ahead of the rest of the peasantry because of their life experience, or even they might have stashed money or other salable items such as a horde of vehicles and household items they can sell and avail themselves cash that could enable them change their situation swiftly. They were allowed at least to continue owning the house they were living in, in addition to a place of work that could be in many forms. There was nothing wrong with it except that as time passes the whole intent of the drive had started to be clear, because the drive might have been after just a change of hands where a landholding group and some of the elite who had direct relation to it could be made disadvantaged with a minimal loss of life. Other than that it was a different version of the same ruling class that felt it was made an outcast and left out from the lucrative wealth-accumulating craze that revolted. The other marginalized ethnic groups in the country were systematically allowed to play roles that were only symbolic, because they did not have the military might nor the expertise to run a country. Therefore, the change they were allowed to enjoy was only noticeable in the countryside where the big majority of the people were farmers and what took place was rationing the available land into small parcels and grant the peasants to own the title of the land that they cannot sell, mortgage, nor rent out. It does not mean they have not enjoyed the freedom they were given because they immediately started working for themselves and they had shown good result so far, although their effort had failed to feed the nation and that failure had been blamed on the population explosion.
Once TPLF/EPRDF took power if there was a very important aspect they introduced, it was that they augmented the level of the freedom the people were enjoying and came up with a federal system where each ethnic group will be fully in charge of what takes place in its own region and will have to work in a federal setup. This was one of the jewels of their achievements and now there are hooligans who are disguising as opposition parties and are determined to ruin this kind of near perfect arrangement because, literally, some people have become displaced simply because they are caught in the a place they probably called their own wrongly and now this group is working hard to deceive the public by claiming that they are the best solution for the problems the country is strapped with. However, most of us know that they are the ones who are responsible for what is happening in the nation because it was their job and responsibility not to take a very radical measure that changed the political and economical landscape of the nation. We cannot also forget they and the country had been rescued from becoming pioneers by being the first nation in the region to go into disarray, where anarchy would have reigned similar to what is taking place in Somalia and our country would have been the first to be where Somalia is today, because once they lost the support they were getting from the Soviet Union because of the change that took place on the global political landscape, they did not have anywhere else to turn to. It would have been unpalatable for the West to work with turncoats who might not even want to apologize for their wrong doing, because they were so arrogant and ignorant, a reality that might have not changed up to now.
And now what is unfortunate is they are the ones what the opposition is going to be made up of, because it had always been a wait and see attitude hoping that TPLF might falter at one point. But that did not happen and will not happen in the foreseeable future, because the way things are done are different and the world that had given the nation its back is no longer doing so. That is badly needed for a nation that is so backward, although it is making all the right advances toward the right direction. Taking a look at what is happening in the agriculture sector alone shows that the nation will start feeding itself if those who have the means and know-how are allowed to tackle the agricultural problem and that has already started taking place.
The problem now is disrupting all this effort is comparable to a daylight robbery, because those who will be benefited from the current opposition activity are not the Ethiopian populace, it could be a few interest groups whose sole drive could be bolstering their own needs. When we look at their number they are laughable and the only reason why they matter is the big majority of the people still do not firmly know what is right or wrong for the nation. In a situation like this some forces could manage to sway the decision making process of people, in this case voters, toward their false claim, and that is the reason why the PM is correct when he said that it is not possible to work with this kind of individuals who are determined to do lots of harm to the unknowing public. This means that the government can always use its veto power to change any unbecoming election outcome.
What this makes very clear is the election exercise could be after all futile, because the public still needs more time to know which is the best direction to follow, since some of the current living condition problems that are afflicting them might make them think that they are on a wrong track, when in fact they are not. To make things worse, as said earlier there are sleek politicians who are rubbing salt on the wound by saying that we have the best solution for you, whereas what they will certainly do is take the nation back to where it was where one ethnic group was having everything under its control, while through the process there will be a few who will be lining up their own pocket, which was the major source of the problem that started all this unstable environment which by itself is another long story that is not possible to go into. For those who want to line up their pocket there is the private sector that is open for everyone. That is why the general public is backward now although they were around for more than 100 years in the same form they are now where a given ethnic group had taken advantage of the situation to advance its own cause only. Currently, it is possible to see them out of charactre wherever they are and are plotting to cause another disruption to take back what had been attained to where it was before TPLF took power and declared a freedom where everyone can live in a federation without no one taking advantage of the others. The outcomes show that 19 years might not be enough to give birth to genuine political parties that have their base in the grass root, not in the camp of the former ruling class no matter what kind of forms or names they are taking or are calling since this group had come very close to qualify the nation as a pioneer to live in a similar chaos Somalia is living in today. That had been averted by the effort of many sources and that had left those who are claiming to be the current oppositions licking their wounds for many years, because no one was hearing from them prior to three months of the 2005 election. Out of a sudden they came out with a CUD banner that required the applying of some unfortunate force to curtail their drive to severely damage the nation, in spite of the fact that no one wants to harm the members of its own society, even if when they are in the wrong side of things.
Therefore, the question that needs answering is and if everyone agrees, all the effort that will be wasted on the coming election should be averted and directed toward a campaign similar to the "zemecha" that will last for another five years with the hope that it will not only be possible to nurture the general public by equipping it how to visualize what is good for its future, but it might also be possible to create the opportunity where political parties could also be nurtured as stated earlier that have their base deeply entrenched in the lives and problems of the big majority of people who are the grassroots instead of being swindled by a small group of elite that is out to avenge TPLF and those who had tried to work with them to better the overall welfare of the nation, as well as their own lives, because not doing so will be allowing a child’s play where soiling oneself with deliberate wrongdoing is tolerated and there is going to be someone who has to pay a high price for the mess that will be created. If we really look at it that is what is happening in the nation, although some of the good achievements might outweigh such outlooks. This is witnessed by the lack of genuine opposition since what the nation has is interest groups that know there is some kind of channel that had been opened and it is up for grabs by anyone who can put oneself in a position to misappropriate it. But the reality is, this channel or source of money or aid or whatever we want to call it is there because those who are giving it out know at least there is a concerted effort to put it to good work. Once that is gone and this corrupt and self indulging individuals get power somehow, it is certain that it will disappear, and through the process some unabashed individuals might get rich and that is not what we want to see happening. That is why there is a police force and law and order around the world because there will always be some groups that want to break the law or take advantage of things. What this means is the coming election is at best an education session where like any fire-drill the participants will get the opportunity to learn new things, because it seems that no one is ready yet to play the opposition role and with all the good intentions, we have failed to bring forward the proper kind of opposition party the country needs, and this is witnessed by the lack of a political party that has its base in the grassroots, not in some urban elite who are hungry to line up their pocket.
posted by Ethio-Probe @ 8:15 AM
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