Ethiopia demands a legitimate not a unity govt

By Seifeselassie Sibhatu

August 6, 2005 — In another move not to accept the judgement of the people of Ethiopia, the UEDF/CUD now came up with a proposal to form a Government of National Unity with EPRDF. Now they are proposing to work with a party which they have described as “…must go by all means, it degraded us”. They are proposing to govern the people of Ethiopia with a party they “… prepare the people to be ungovernable to” and a party they describe as”…while it is Ethiopian in origin it is a colonizer in administration and son of evil”. They are forwarding a proposal to work with a person about who they have been saying“…the true will of the people is to rid Ethiopia of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi”. From this proposal we can understood the lack of integrity of the people behind the leadership of both UEDF and CUD. It is clear the bottom line of this proposal is another move by both UEDF and CUD to undermine the country’s stride towards a stable democracy. And we know this is not a new magic proposal to solve the current impasse of Ethiopia as UEDF/CUD claim. This is part of a serious steps embodied in the so-called strategy to remove EPRDF form power by any means possible and bring back reminisces of Dergue to power.

What should be made clear at this stage is that the current proposal has nothing to do with the official result released by NEBE following the thorough investigation by Complaint Investigation Panel (CIO). For example way before CIP was established and just days after the May 15, 2005 Ethiopian Election the same proposal was forwarded by Dr. Beyene Petros as “…the EPRDF may not have the number of votes necessary to form the next government…Therefore there is a need to have dialogue and talk between us on how to form a government of national unity“. Now the question is what if EPRDF may have the vote necessary to from the next government? Will Dr. Beyene and his colleagues at UEDF and CUD be ready to accept its legitimacy? In fact from recent official NEBE election results there is an indication that EPRDF will emerge as the clear winner having the necessary vote to form the next legitimate Ethiopian government. This is a bad news for UEDF and CUD that are participated in the 3rd Ethiopian election to determine their destination not by peoples vote but by there own predestined dream of power. This is a bad news for party that participated in an Election not to solve the real problems of the Ethiopian people, but to realise their long time dream to come to power. Therefore, for such kind of party there is no other option but to oppose all results and ideas that will hinder their dream of power. That was the recent proposal all about, oppose the will of the people and look for detour to come to power.

The joint UEDF/CUD proposal calls for a formation of a kind of transitional government with mandate of preparing the way for a new election. In effect the proposal undermines the process of democracy already started in the country and call for back to zero. The proposal nullifies the democratic process in which UEDF and CUD themselves are part of. We are warned by the proposal the alternative to their unreasonable demand is “…a threat to the very integrity of the country and a disaster to the already started democratisation process.” And we have been told by UEDF and CUD unless they are part of the next government the threat is real and dangerous.

The joint UEDF/CUD proposal covers wide Varity of topics but the part that attracted my attention was the section “The main features of the new political arrangement”. In this section three features are discussed: a) time frame of the new political arrangement, b) confidence building measures and c) power sharing. The first and third features of this section of the proposal are interesting in many aspects and demonstrate the naked truth about people behind UEDF and CUD. The first feature suggests establishment of a provisional government similar to the early days of Dergue of course including UEDF and CUD. Basically the subtle idea behind this feature is a call for bringing UEDF and CUD undemocratically in to part of the government. However, this feature of the proposal is an insult to the 25 million courageous Ethiopians who voted to determine the government of the country in the next five years. The third feature of the section is about power sharing by UEDF and CUD with EPRDF. As we know power sharing is not new to EPRDF. As a winning party in the last two elections and with the idea of inclusiveness, EPRDF has been sharing government power with such parties as the Afar and Benshangul democratic fronts among others. Therefore, it is not new to EPRDF to share power and will do it again, if it will emerge as the official winner, with the party of its choice and in the best interest of the country. What makes the joint UEDF/CUD proposal unique is that they demanded cabinet post and threatened to disrupt the peace and stability of the country and the people unless they are sharing power with EPRDF.

Basically the “new” joint UEDF/CUD proposal is yet another fact that shows the interest and motive of the people behind these parties. Here are few of the paradox that helps expose the naked power ambitions of UEDF/CUD. The proposal outlines the process of developing the new unity government as follows:

 Identifying the major players in Ethiopia politics. There are many contradicting issues related to the idea of major political players in Ethiopia. It seems both UEDF and CUD have used the result of the 3rd Ethiopian election only to justify themselves as major political players not as the judgement of the people for the formation of the next legitimate Ethiopian government. It is ridicules to see both UEDF and CUD at one time rejecting the whole outcome of the election, and now use the result of “a rigged and fraud election”, as they called it, to justify themselves as the major players in Ethiopian politics. It seems that there is a deliberate underestimation of the importance of the 3rd Ethiopian election on the side of both UEDF and CUD. Ethiopia and Ethiopians have conducted the 3rd Election not for the mere reason to identify who is who in Ethiopian politics. The Ethiopian people have voted in the 3rd Election not to select few individuals who prepare the way for the formation of another new election. The courageous people of Ethiopia voted to form the next legitimate government of the country that will govern them for the coming five years. The people of Ethiopia participated in the 3rd Election to elect those who will solve their problem. The Ethiopian people did not participate to elect few individuals who will prepare the a new path to the formation of a transitional government. The path to democracy has already been prepared by the scarifies of thousand of heroic sons and daughters of the Ethiopian people. Thanks to heroic children of Ethiopia both UEDF and CUD have been walking on that path of democracy but only to undermine the sacrifice. What Ethiopia needs from political parties are to mobilise the people and strengthen and smooth out the ups and downs of the already started path to democracy. If the genuine interest of UEDF and CUD is durable peace and prosperity to the Ethiopian people, this is the path prepared by blood and sweat of the gallant Ethiopian children that will lead us there. As John the Baptist was crying in the wilderness “…prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” the heroic sons and daughters of the Ethiopian people have prepared the way and made the path straight. We do not need another John the Baptist, we do not need another transitional government. What we need is to remove the thorns and, the ups and the downs from the path and make it smooth for our children and grand children so that they will be able to walk on it with out problem or difficulty.

 Power sharing in the Cabinet. This part clearly demonstrates the true nature of both UEDF and CUD. Here is how they propose to have the number of seats in the cabinet “in accordance to the vote they received at May election.” At many places in their “new” proposal and in different instances after the May 15 election they have already labelled the result as illegal and accused EPRDF rigging and stealing the vote of the Ethiopian people. To the amusement of the Ethiopian people now both UEDF and CUD are using the rigged and illegal vote to buy a cabinet post in their dream government. This clearly shows how power monger the individuals behind the UEDF and CUD parties are. There are laws in democratic system that stipulate the formation of the government. First, if there is a party or a coalition of parties that have won more than the required seat in the parliament, that party has/or coalition of parties have the mandate of the people to form the next legitimate government. In case there are no party that have the required seat to form the government, the next step is to conduct a runoff-election between the two parties that have the highest seats. A part from these, there is no such democratic systems that forms a government between parties in accordance to the vote they received. What the UEDF and CUD deliberately misunderstood is a party should not necessary hold cabinet post(s) to solve the problem of the Ethiopian people. By becoming strong and loyal opposition in the parliament they can work with the government on issue they can agree or force the government on issues they disagree. In that respect there is a noble opportunity for the opposition to work for the interest of the people and contribute for the stabilisation and development of our young democratic system.

 Establishing a peace and reconciliation commission. As we have tried to show in the past, peace and reconciliation commission applies to a society that has just emerged from one or other form of armed struggle. Ethiopia and Ethiopian have been on democratic process for the last fourteen years. In fact both UEDF and CUD have been part of this democratic process, even if so far for any significant good for the country. The have been contesting in the Election freely. It is clear that they have not been in armed power struggle with EPRDF. There is no wound to heal between EPRDF and UEDF/CUD. The Ethiopian political parties both at home and in Diaspora have accepted the existence of a legitimate government and the ruling party has also accepted the existence of legal opposition parties. Therefore, there is a recognition on both part of the political spectra. Both the ruling party and the opposition have agreed to play by the rule of the game. If they agree to play by the rule of the game we demand that they accept the result of the game. The opposition parties have acknowledged about the free and fairness of the election in their own word as follows: “it was the first time in our history, we had access to our people. At least we could tell most of the people what we stand for and what we have a dream for Ethiopia.”. “To begin with, it must be acknowledged that Mr. Meles Zenawi, whatever his motives, did permit the freest elections in our history. He allowed opposition candidates to travel to big cities and campaign unmolested, and allowed the free press to cover the election with a freedom previously unknown in Ethiopia… debates that gave voters a clear sense of the differences between the competing parties”, . “For the first time in this country’s history, the people of Ethiopia freely came forward after hearing the debates in the election to vote for the party of their choice on May 15, 2005. We consider this to prove a historical landmark in the country’s long history” . Therefore, these are not a sign of a society at armed class struggle that requires national reconciliation. Today’s Ethiopia is in the path towards a maturing democracy and there is no ground for calling a government of national reconciliation. As in any democratic systems there are differences in opinion between political parties. However, difference in political idea and opinion could not be a basis for calling a national reconciliation government. Ethiopia is already in process of building strong democracy, both the opposition and the ruling parties have been participating in this process and there is no need of national reconciliation. Unless the proposal is to portray to the outside world that both UEDF and CUD are in armed struggle with EPRDF to free the Ethiopian people form colonisation.

In conclusion, on May 15, 2005, 25 million courageous Ethiopians have voted in what is dubbed by both local and international observers as the most competitive free and fair election by any standard. The people of Ethiopia demands all their vote counted and translate into formation of the next legitimate government. We demand NEBE should announce in no uncertain term the clear winner of the May 15 Election. If there are no clear winners we demand NEBE should outline what the next democratic procedure might be. We also demand from both the ruling party and the oppositions to accept in no uncertain term the judgement of the Ethiopian people. As both the ruling party and the opposition have agreed to play by the rule of the game, we demand they respect the outcome of the game. We demand the winner party establish the next legitimate Ethiopian government as soon as possible. Also, we demand the loser party to be a loyal opposition in the parliament “…loyal not to the specific policies of the government, but to the fundamental legitimacy of the state and to the democratic process itself.” In no uncertain term we oppose any form of undemocratic and illegal ways of pursuing power. We demand both the next legitimate government and loyal opposition give priorities to the urgent problem of the Ethiopian people rather than squabbling for power. As we have been saying since long time, in the May 15 Ethiopian Election there is no single winner or a loser party, but all us the Ethiopian people are the winners. Let us be courageous to face the reality and the truth of today’s Ethiopia. Let not our ego of power drives us. Let us be citizens driven by the priority, interests and urgent needs of the country.

Seifeselassie Sibhatu is an Ethiopian from Canada.