Bravo to both rivals for
the White House
I begin this piece with my sincere
congratulations to President Obama on his clear victory over his rival Governor
Mitt Romney. I do so despite my repeatedly expressed vehement objection to the
inaction of his Administration to stop gruesome human rights violations in
Ethiopia on the excuse of giving priority to the US security interest.
I would also like to express my admiration for the
Governor for graciously conceding defeat in his moving speech underlining that
country comes first and calling on congressional leaders to cooperate at this
critical time. It is remarkable that the President spoke to the Governor and
said “We may have battled fiercely, but it’s only because we love this country
deeply and we care so strongly about its future”.
That was a sign of civility and
responsibility at their best. The fiercely fought campaign to win the White
House culminated in peace, sending a strongmessage to the whole world that democracy
works as long as people freelyparticipate in very large numbers in
the affairs of their country as was the case in the US Election 2012.
Above all I congratulate the American people with
admiration for the stunning progress that they have made in showing for the
second time to the world at large that it is only merit and competence that
matter for ascending to the highest office in the land.
Before I move on to the next section, I just want
to emphasize that the phrase “fair and free election” is absent in the lexicon
of the corrupt TPLF regime, which is still ruling by the gun in breach of its
own constitution stipulating freedom of expression and rule of law. The regime
blatantly lied to the whole world in claiming 99.6% ‘victory’ in election 2010
and stole the first ever democratic election of 2005 in which it suffered
convincing defeat so much so it was humiliated and angered as to send the
victors to prison.
Obama victory speech; sham power transfer shame in
Ethiopia
President Obama began his speech with: “Tonight,
more than 200 years after a former colony won the right to determine its own
destiny, the task of perfecting our union moves forward.” He went to say “It
moves forward because of you. It moves forward because you reaffirmed the
spirit that has triumphed over war and depression, the spirit that has lifted
this country from the depths of despair to the great heights of hope, the belief that while each
of us will pursue our own individual dreams, we are an American family and we
rise or fall together as one nation and as one people.”
The Ethiopian people have crushed several
external wars of aggression among which those by Italy, Turkey, and Egypt are
prominent. This they did at great sacrifice in human lives and injuries not to
mention colossal damage to property and enduring the scourge of famine in order
to safeguard their independence. In the last 21 years however the spirit of
patriotism has been weakened by the TPLF regime distorting history. The belief
of which President Obama spoke for his country is dying in Ethiopia under the TPLF.
This is a time of political crises, economic
decline and biting poverty in a divided Ethiopia along ethnic and religious
lines deliberately pursued by the brutal TPLF/EPRDF ruling regime. I thought
that both the opposition and the misruling regime can draw lesson from the
following three excerpts from President Obama’s victory speech in order to
rectify their serious weaknesses before it is too late to avert impending
national catastrophe. Note: The highlights in the excerpts are mine meant to
emphasis the points I wanted to make:
1. “We believe in a generous America, in a
compassionate America, in a tolerant America, open to the dreams of an immigrant’s
daughter who studies in our schools and pledges to our flag. To the young boy
on the south side of Chicago who sees a life beyond the nearest street corner.
To the furniture worker’s child in North Carolina who wants to become a doctor
or a scientist, an engineer or an entrepreneur, a diplomat or even a president
– that’s the future we hope for. That’s the vision we
share. That’s where we need to go – forward. That’s where we need to go.
2. Now, we will disagree, sometimes fiercely,
about how to get there. As it has for more than two centuries, progress will
come in fits and starts. It’s not always a straight line. It’s not always a
smooth path. By itself, the recognition that we have common hopes and dreams
won’t end all the gridlock or solve all our problems or substitute for the
painstaking work of building consensus and making the difficult compromises
needed to move this country forward. But that common bond is where we
must begin.”
My comment: The TPLF is hell-bent on breaking
common bond that kept the culturally diverse Ethiopian people together; to my
utter dismay, some opposition forces with hidden agenda of secession are making
it easy for the brutal regime to exploit the pernicious situation.
3. “And when we go through tough times, when we
make big decisions as a country, it necessarily stirs passions, stirs up
controversy. That won’t change after tonight, and it shouldn’t. These arguments
we have are a mark of our liberty. We can never forget that
as we speak people in distant nations are risking their lives right now just
for a chance to argue about the issues that matter, the chance to cast their
ballots like we did today.”
My comment: The highlighted statement is so true and
wholly applicable to the worsening dire situation of grave violation of
constitutional right of protests in Ethiopia being perpetrated by the
repressive ruling regime even as the President was making his victory speech.
All the above (1,2,3) provide a classic example of
a visionary leader that seeks the consent of the people to lead them where they
want to go with full understanding of present difficulties and the promise of
good times to come. It is in sharp contrast to the pernicious contemptuous decree
of “no change” issued by the TPLF top leaders and echoed by the EPRDF Prime
Minister, Haile Mariam Desalegn, stressing that the legacy of his late “Great
Leader” Zenawi shall stay intact undiminished for implementation in full!
The President concluded his speech by articulating
the bonds or attributes that made America exceptional – holding together “the most diverse
nation on earth”. These are belief in shared destiny; acceptance of
“certain obligations to one another and to future generations; “the freedom
which so many Americans have fought for and died for come with responsibilities
as well as rights. The President said that “And among those are love and
charity and duty and patriotism.”
I believe we can seize this future together
because we are not as divided as our politics suggests. We’re not as cynical as
the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions,
and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and forever will be
the United States of America.
And together with your help and God’s grace we
will continue our journey forward and remind the world just why it is that we
live in the greatest nation on Earth.
Thank you, America. God bless you. God bless the
United States”.
President Obama positively mentioned God thrice in
his speech in sharp contrast to the Christian Prime Minister Haile Mariam
Desalegn in his acceptance speech of his assignment at the rubber stamp
Parliament; he extolled his late “Great Leader” to the level of deity in that
speech most probably prepared by the atheist secretary of the party – the
avowed foe of religion hailing from Sirte where Orthodox Tewahido Orthodox
Christians are victims of mockery and witch hunt in full view of the government.
It is saddening that the Prime Minister overlooked the age-old tradition of
mentioning God in his closing speech or therein elsewhere – for that matter in
a country where 96% of the people are pious Christians or Muslims
Those in glass houses
Comparing two epochs before and after 1974:
Ethiopia was going through rapid economic growth before the 1974 Revolution as
acclaimed by the international community. Agriculture was burgeoning and farm
produce was being exported. Agro-industry was mushrooming. Ethiopia was
creditworthy. This growth phenomenon inspired pundits that the country was on
take-off stage to land on the first rung of the economic ladder according to
the then available criteria. The principle of self-reliance was taking
center-stage; entrepreneurs were migrating from cities to the country side to
undertake agricultural development with a view to becoming the breadbasket of
the Middle East. Educated Ethiopians at tertiary institution abroad rushed home
and zealously participated in the development of their country.
Master plans were made for the development of
cities during the Imperial regime. These included modernization of Addis Ababa,
Awassa and Bar Dar among others. Emperor Haile Selassie was pondering taking
the political capital to Awassa.
Alas, the drought of 1973/74 that hit two
provinces in the north dashed progress; it became reason for the outbreak of
the 1974 Revolution – from which peaceful change ensued at first until it was
hijacked by the notorious military junta spearheaded by Mengistu Hailemariam.
Emperor Haile Selassie was dethroned in the
aftermath of the Revolution. Somalia’s renegade tyrant Ziade Barre soon invaded
Ethiopia by taking advantage of internal strife in the country and forgetting
that Ethiopia fought at the United Nations for the independence of Somalia.
The period of TPLF misrule (1991 to date) stands
accused, inter alia, for: leaving Ethiopia landlocked; its unprecedented
sellout of vital national interests and gross violation of basic human rights
documented by the international community; unaccounted capital flight to the
tune of US$ 25 billion; nauseating corruption in; unprecedented level of exodus
of political and economic refugees often victims of death and arrests on their
journey; forced repatriation to face danger at home; sponsored migration of
manpower in search of greener pasture.
So as the old adage goes those in glass houses
should not throw stones. The crimes and treason of the TPLF regime by far
exceed those of the Derg regime. In other words, the brutal hypocrite
TPLF/EPRDF leaders lack moral authority to shift blame on what they call
remnants of previous regimes for criticizing thier drastic failures.
In conclusion
I fully subscribe to this famous quotation by
Thomas Jefferson “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That
to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their
just powers from the consent of the governed”.
And, based on the immortal words of Jefferson:-
·
I justify my argument that the TPLF regime did not
derive its power from the consent of the Ethiopian people. Therefore all political prisoners
Andualem, Eskinder, Reeyot et al must be released unconditionally without
delay; that all restrictions on freedom of expression be lifted; political
parties including MEDREK, AEUP et al are regarded as partners rather than
enemies publicly declared as such by the late tyrant Zenawi; and
·
I sense in President Obama’s speech that he will
revisit the policy of his Administration on Ethiopia. His slated visit to Burma reinforces my hope.
LONG LIVE
ETHIOPIA!!!
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