Open Letter to H.E. Meles Zenawi

Open Letter to H.E. Meles Zenawi,
Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic
of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa

By Firew Kebede Tiba*

Your Excellency;

April 5, 2006 — It is indeed a big step for me to write you this open letter using my real name setting aside my self-imposed restraint. Sounds familiar? Just like what you did when you decided to write against the chief election monitor H.E. Anna Gomez of the European Parliament. I reckon you are not receiving many open letters these days as you used to and I suspect the current post election crisis is much to blame.

Allow me to introduce myself. I am an Ethiopian citizen who is presently overseas for a study. I was a grade nine student (turned fifteen) when your forces victoriously swept in to my little highland slumbering Gore town in Illu Abba Borra province. Back then I did not make much out of it but as many Ethiopian families; my family was also affected as my mother had to lose her job because of her being a bookkeeper in a local party office. That period was a very painful one and we had to endure it. But I did not hold any grudge against your regime nor do I harbor any hate on account of that. I even ended up teaching at the Ethiopian Civil Service College upon my graduation from AAU. I do not need to tell you how the college is perceived as an extended arm of the ruling party. No doubt that, this perception has undermined you politically just like the much talked about ‘endowments’. For the record, I enjoyed teaching at the Faculty of Law of the College. The students are much disciplined, attentive and come from all corners of the country. I resigned from the college on my own accord and I know that some of the things written about the college are simply not true. I do not have a single relative overseas and all my future and past is tied to my country. My postgraduate education (two masters degrees and now a doctorate degree) was and is financed by citizens of other countries. Now I see myself not only as an Oromo Ethiopian but also as a truly global citizen who is guided by a humanist vision. This is my story. Most of my compatriots in rural Ethiopia and the slums of our cities may have a totally different experience.

I treated you to my above short story just to let you know that I passed half of my life under your rule. That places me in a perfect position to evaluate the performance of your administration from the perspective of an ordinary young man. I am a keen observer of the Ethiopian and international politics. Politically, I fit nowhere. Sometimes I support the ideals of the EPRDF, sometimes I support the visions of OLF, and sometimes I sympathize with some of the causes of the CUD. I want to keep it as that. I am fully liberated from hate politics and prejudice. I believe there are many people like me out there. But you can not hear the voice of such people because Ethiopian politics as far as I know is dominated by vocal extremists of one sort or another who do not have the word ‘compromise’ in their vocabulary. Unfortunately, that includes you and your team.

Oppressed Ethiopian citizens and nationalities owe you and the Tigray people a gratitude for your immense contributions in the overthrowing of the military junta. That would have gone down the annals of history as the most significant contribution in the modern history of Ethiopia, had your team carried forward the ideals of the young men and women who paid the most expensive price in the struggle. But the way you and your team conducted itself in the last fifteen years instead diluted the neat contribution made by these selfless young men and women. What went wrong? Let me dwell on some of these.

It is true that yours is a bold experiment to change the status quo. This brought you in to a serious conflict with the elements of the ancien regime that is violent enough to rock your otherwise shaky political foundation. At the moment the remnants of the ancient regime are kicking for their life. Likewise, you and your team for lack of a good faith right from the beginning, failed to muster the support of the all-time bystanders of the Ethiopian politics. For what I know, the FDRE Constitution which your regime has venerated in to a bible status has both formal and substantive deficiencies. Your Excellency, I tend to believe that you know these deficiencies of the constitution as it is carefully crafted by your ideologues to fit your particular purposes. Even in that case, during your rule I have seen several blatant violations of your own very constitution by you and your team. That explains the lack of good faith on your side and is a reason for the reluctance of the bystanders for not joining you in the democratization effort. I urge you to go back to the drawing table and invite all opposition groups, civic organizations and citizens and draft a new constitution that could claim a broader support. There can not be a game when a large number of the players do not recognize the rules of the game. I believe that if the 1994 Constitution is to be adopted in 2006, there would be significant changes to it. Now time has changed. The citizens have started to take much interest in politics and are willing to engage your party in any debate. That was not the case in 1994. Everybody will benefit out of it. A desirable result could be achieved if we in good faith apply a one person one vote principle. There is no reason why your party should be afraid of losing relevance so long as your ideals remain appealing to the citizens.

Regarding the present day impasse, so much as I myself do not like to admit, supporters and members of the CUD are not a mere renegade nuisances. Whether we like it or not, there are a significant number of citizens who have thrown themselves behind this party in its support. The number does not matter. It is a formidable force which you can not afford neglecting. You need to look at the broader picture. They have a legitimate concern that needs to be attended to. Why are you insisting on the rule of law this time around? Why are you selectively applying the law only to some opposition leaders? Aren’t there some leaders who were openly advocating for the overthrow of your government who are now in the midst of your legislators? In that case why have we not seen behind bars any of your special forces who killed innocent citizens? Is it really about the rule of law?

Your Excellency, you might feel unappreciated for all your works which you believed are in the interest of the country. I also understand the complex domestic and international atmosphere in which your government operates. It is no fun to be in the driver seat of a poor, illiterate and highly divided country. If you have anything that goes to the credit of your name or your party, history celebrates them posthumously. Most leaders are shot to fame only long after they are gone. If you want to be celebrated while alive, you need to gracefully step aside and open the door for negotiation. Let a new era usher. We the oppressed citizens and nationalities are fully awake and sensitized and we can protect ourselves against wolves in a sheep’s clothing.

I promise to write you more. There are some in your cabinet we could tell you that I did not mean any harm in writing you this long-winded letter. Your Excellency, do the right thing, and the likes me will rally behind you. Everybody is simply asking you just to do that!!!

Kindest regards;

* Firew Kebede Tiba, is a PhD Candidate in Law at the University of Hong Kong. He can be reached at [email protected]