Zenawi accuses media for “fanning” violence in Ethiopia
Nov 5, 2005 (ADDIS ABABA) — Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has accused sections of local and international media for “fanning” the recent violence in Addis Ababa.
In an interview with state TV, Zenawi also pledged to pursue a policy of patience and dialogue to end the row with Eritrea, which he accused of waging a “concerted propaganda campaign” against Ethiopia. He added that the Ethiopian military has been “making the necessary preparations” and will “forcefully defend any aggression” by Eritrea.
The following is the text of Zenawi’s interview broadcast by Ethiopian TV on 5 November; subheadings inserted editorially:
– Twice street violence has been evident in the capital city within less than six months. A huge loss of property and damage on people has been carried out during the epiphany celebrations. There is fear that this type of violence could continue in the future. What is the cause of all these problems and how will the government resolve them?
Meles: As you have stated, several problems have been evident in and around Addis Ababa in the last few months. It is also true that the society and the government will ask, where will this problem end?
According to me, the problem was caused by two reasons. One is a political reason and the second is a socio-economic reason. The political reason is that the opposition party, Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), which promised to take part in the elections and carry out a peaceful political struggle went against its promise and decided to bring about its aims through force, disobedience and violence. It continued to organize, instigate and implement violent events for a long time. The CUD objective of violence and disturbance has been the major cause for the current crises. Unless the CUD’s objective of violence is broken once and for all, it will be difficult to think that there would be lasting peace and stability in Addis Ababa.
The second reason is the presence, in Addis Ababa, of economic and social conditions that accommodate the violent activities of the CUD. There are no less than 300,000 unemployed youth in the city. Like in any other cities in the world, when there is such a huge number of unemployed youth there is bound to be the danger of being exposed to various criminal activities.
Therefore, this social and economic situation together with a political organization determined to organize violent activities, have created the problems evident in the past six months. Inasmuch as the source of the violence in Addis Ababa is economic and social, then the long-term solution will only be economic and social. The source of the problems is our poverty. Therefore, it is only when we carry out our development activities with more vigour, create more employment opportunities, carry out resettlement activities, create a conducive atmosphere where by the youth get employed and are able to support their families. This will solve the problem once and for all.
As for the political problem, it requires two related and indivisible solutions which should go hand in hand. While the efforts to change the CUD’s violent agenda and activities through patience and in a peaceful manner might appear to have run out of steam, this violent tendency should be decisively broken. It should be broken once and for all.
The second solution that should go hand in hand with the first one is to create an avenue where all opposition parties in general and, the CUD supporters and other political parties in particular, have an opportunity to pursue their programmes in a peaceful manner under the laid-down rules and regulations.
By understanding the political, social and economic nature of the problems, it requires we seek solutions to the problems depending on their nature. As I mentioned earlier, the political solution requires a decisive break with all violent agendas and activities.
Similarly, if there are those who want to carry out the CUD’s programmes in a peaceful manner, enough avenues should be opened to enable them carry out their objectives peacefully and also make it possible for other political parties to be given the same opportunity.
The unemployment problem can, in the short term, be resolved by controlling illegal activities and concentrate on development as this is the major and lasting solution to unemployment.
Role of media in clashes
– It has been an open secret that the private press and foreign media have been fanning the violence and the disturbances. What steps is the government taking in this respect?
Meles: When we look at the private press in general, it has longstanding problems. The issue of resolving the basic problems of the private press should be looked into at their own time. Notwithstanding this, it is well-known that there are many in the private press who have been fanning the violent activities and who have been working hand in hand with the opposition parties. These ones are also equally answerable like the CUD executives as they have been fully engaged in the violent and criminal activities. It has already been decided that similar actions will be taken against them.
There are those in the private press who have violated the various press laws. However, we will look into these later. The current focus is on those who have been actively participating in the violent activities by apprehending them and bringing them to book. The government has already decided this and it will be implemented.
As regards to the foreign media, efforts are being made to communicate with their respective governments about their activities.
Democracy and violence
– There are some who say that the activity [demonstrations] was carried out in the name of elections and democracy. With no democratic culture in the country that put our peace in danger. What is your view on this?
Meles: It is my belief that democracy is a source of peace and is not against peace. The reason why democracy is the source of peace is that it allows people with different views to express these views legally, carry out their objectives lawfully and also create a conducive atmosphere for the implementation of their objectives, if they get the majority of the votes from the people.
It is known that our country comprises of people with different political views, different nationalities, different gender and different religious beliefs. As in other countries, there are people with different political views. It is only democracy that can accommodate the different views through legal means. It is for this reason that democracy is the source of lasting peace. This is not only confined to the developed countries. It is a system that works and should work wherever there are people with differing views.
When we look into this issue in relation to the situation in our country, it has been proven practically that our people have nothing to lose by implementing democracy. Millions of people came out very early in the morning and queued the whole day to cast their votes during the May elections. These people came out in their millions and cast their votes because they wanted to express their views through their vote. They carried out the exercise with the strong belief that differences can only be solved through the ballot and not through violence, disturbances or otherwise.
Therefore, democracy is not a problem to our peace. The cause of our problems is the creation of a group, which hid behind this same democracy and tried to get what they want, but not what they deserve, through violence. Democracy did not cause this rather it was the creation of a destructive group that did not want to use democracy appropriately.
– As you put it earlier, the election was expected to bring about great democratic hope and a great economic leap in our country. There are those who fear that the violent situation in our country might lead to the closure of all democratic avenues created in our country. What is the government’s view on this issue?
Meles: The current situation in our country should not at any cost close the democratic avenues that are open in our country. I think it will not close the democratic avenues at all. I said it will not close because democracy is the sole alternative to our country’s development. There is no other alternative. There is no any other solution. Therefore, it will not be closed. The government will not make any move that will close the democratic avenues that are already open. The actions already taken, in my view, will widen these democratic avenues and not narrow them. This is because, the actions taken were against an organization which is fully anti-democratic and which the government is trying to bring to justice.
There is no need to go into details of the objectives of the CUD as these were clearly manifested during the electoral process. While looking into their activities and taking the recent actions as an example, we have two things that we can deduce from total anti-democratic nature. The system they followed – the directives they issued to the public, the directive for violence, the call for the isolation of supporters of the EPRDF; they issued directives to people urging them not to attend wedding and burial ceremonies; they urged people not buy from their shops, and even not greet them etc.
Democracy is a system where by, differences notwithstanding, people tolerate one another and not view each other as enemies. There is no democracy that says that all social functions should be stopped because of political differences. In fact, it is the other way round, that if all social interactions sour completely, there is no democracy at all. In order to carry out their objectives, these people tried, using the press, to disrupt all the social interactions of the people through religion, politics and nationality. Putting an end to such type of anti-democratic forces and anti-democratic agendas would help strengthen the democratic process rather than affect it.
Let us take another example. These people started their street violence with violent propaganda such as so-and-so has been arrested, killed. This campaign was not only aimed at EPRDF, but was also a tactic that they use against one another when differences arise among themselves. Therefore, breaking such a destructive force and destructive agenda opens the door of democracy rather than closing it.
The government has not only decided to widen the doors of democracy but also make it clear through its actions. As I mentioned earlier, the CUD as an organization, is answerable for the violence. As an organization, the CUD is a criminal group. Therefore, the government is making every effort to bring these criminals to book. The government has made sure that those who have not been involved in instigating the violence are not put under control even when their organizations have been accused of participating in the violence.
This was because of the reasons I mentioned earlier. This was aimed at giving an additional chance to those CUD members, who have the intention of carrying out their objectives legally and peacefully. Therefore, the government is going out of its way to ensure that the actions taken do not narrow the doors of democracy. The objective of such actions is not to limit the doors of democracy but deal with one strong opposition party that is creating fear among other parties by undermining their democratic rights.
Row with Eritrea
– Let us now turn to Eritrea. It is known that the Eritrean government has been working for a long time now on a concerted propaganda campaign with the opposition. It has now engaged itself in the beating up of war drums. This has caused fear among many of our people since this might lead to war. What is the government’s assessment and preparation on this issue?
Meles: The government’s stand on this issue is similar with all other issues. The government will be patient and refrain from taking an irreversible action that could be regretted later. It wants dialogue to articulate all issues and resolve all outstanding problems in a civilized and peaceful manner.
The patience will stretch to its limit. If this patience pays dividends, with successful results and if it manages to avoid the much publicized aggression, then all is well and good. However, if this patience does not achieve the required results and leads to aggression, then the government will not hesitate to defend against the aggression without any qualms. Therefore, the government policy on this issue is to show patience and restraint and try to resolve the dispute in a peaceful manner.
Based on this, there is the five-point peace proposal that has been tabled by the Ethiopian government. The government is prepared and is ready to use dialogue and tackle the dispute with the Eritrean government. This is in a bid to resolve the matter peacefully. It will continue with this principle until the last moment.
This is one side of the issue, the other side is that of government’s responsibility in the preservation of law. Let us say, if people want to continue with their illegal activities, then the government will take the necessary preparations to deal with any illegal activities. The government has been making the necessary preparations in the past three or four years starting from the day the war with Eritrea ended.
The preparation was not aimed at war if it broke out any time, today or tomorrow, but in case the Eritrean government decided to follow the path of destruction and if all peaceful means failed to deal with such dangers. It was aimed as a means of taking a decisive action once and for all. During the preparations, some issues have been taken into consideration. The preparation considered the Eritrean government’s attempts of mobilizing armed insurgents inside our country. Therefore, our preparation is not aimed at defending the Eritrean aggression but at dealing with other problems that might accompany the foreign aggression.
I know that there are people who are worried that the Eritrean government might take advantage of the current troubles in Addis Ababa and try to create some problems in Ethiopia. The government has envisaged this and knows very well that if there is any aggression, it will not come alone. The government has therefore taken the necessary steps since the Ethiopian government anticipated this.
Nevertheless, we will continue with our policy of patience and restraint until the last minute. This is in a bid to resolve the issue peacefully. If we fail to resolve the problem peacefully, then we will take an irreversible action to break once and for all the aggression that might come from the Eritrean side. We have no fear whatsoever as we are well-prepared for any kind of aggression.
Message to Ethiopians
– Lastly, Your Excellency the prime minister, do you have any message to pass?
Meles: I would like to commend the manner and people’s attitude during the recent violence in Addis Ababa. The people refused to take part in the violence despite several attempts to involve them. The political differences notwithstanding, even the people who voted for the CUD showed their resolve by carrying out their grievances in a civilized manner. This is very commendable behaviour and showed that the democratic culture of our people is much higher than that of most of our political leaders.
The CUD leaders tried to divide the people along nationality and religious lines. They propagated the idea of isolating supporters of the EPRDF. However, the people ignored this call and continued with their usual social interaction. This shows how much the people have matured. They have an advanced and better developed political culture than the so-called [opposition] political leaders.
I would like to look into how the people showed their maturity in marking the Id al-Fitr celebrations. Even though we do not consider this festival one of ours due to its religious nature, as Ethiopians and residents of Addis Ababa, the people (non-Muslim Ethiopians) took the celebration by our Muslim brothers as their own and made every effort to ensure that the celebrations were marked in a peaceful manner. This is a really commendable act of maturity on the people’s side.
The society’s participation in alerting the police on the whereabouts of those involved in violence in the past two days is also commendable. I think it was in the Gulele sub-city, where a mother handed over to the police her own son, who had been throwing stones, and told the police to discipline him as he was creating havoc. As I mentioned earlier, one of the two guns snatched from the police has already been recovered together with the criminal. This was due to help by the people. Civilian cooperation in staving off the violence was also evident in many parts of the town. This is expected from responsible citizens. It is not the police alone who preserve peace, the major peacekeepers are the people.
All these actions were carried out by individuals voluntarily. It is known that these individuals may be exposed to attacks by the criminals. It is expected that these groups criminals will not hesitate to attack these individuals and the result will not be as fruitful as expected. Therefore, the society should, in an organized manner, contribute its share in controlling the youth engaged in illegal activities. I think parents and guardians have the responsibility of advising and counselling their children to refrain from such illegal activities. I also think that the people should get organized in their neighbourhoods and contribute towards the preservation of peace.
Though what has been seen in the form of popular participation was highly commendable, it lacks one step for better efficiency: it should go from the individual action to an organized movement.
It is well known that efforts are being made in all areas to obstruct the current development and path to democracy. Part of the evidence is the violent demonstration by the CUD here in our capital city. The efforts of the Eritrean government should also be looked in the same light. The people should not get worried by these actions. As I have mentioned earlier, the CUD’s acts of violence will be broken. It will be broken decisively and I’m certain that it will be broken. Popular participation in this end will determine the outcome. For those who want to carry out their objectives in a peaceful manner, I would say the field will be levelled for their participation.
Similarly, there is the shabiyyah threat, the beating of war drums, we are hearing it everyday. No-one should expect similar behaviour from the Ethiopian government. This will not benefit anyone. If there is anything that the Ethiopian government will do are two things. One, the government will follow the policy of patience, dialogue and discussion until the last minute. Second, if the last minute expires without any result and the shabiyyah government attempts to commit any aggression, then it will not be like the last time where we asked the people to come out in large numbers in support of the government in the war against Eritrea. We have been making the necessary preparations in the past few years. We will forcefully defend any aggression through the sole action of our defence forces. I do not think there should be any worries over this matter.
Therefore, the attention and focus of the people should be on the fight against poverty, developing our democracy and bring about good governance. The government will not relent from fulfilling these objectives because of the recent violence in Addis Ababa. The government will not relent from these objectives because the shabiyyah government is beating war drums.
I think all our efforts should revolve on the nurturing of development activities, democratic culture and good governance. I am sure that is also the people’s wish.
(BBC MS/ST)