Comment “on elders attempt ……”

I am prompted to write this e-mail to be addressed directly to you after reading your view point’s regarding the elders' attempt to establish a channel between PM Meles and Medrek. I also read an article by Dilwenberu.

I increasingly started questioning if we are truly democratic and if we the supporters of EPRDF are indeed extremists.  As far as I understand, EPRDF has never wanted or intended to monopolize the political sphere in Ethiopia from the very beginning but the ill-nature of the opposition and lack of political culture by the general public required it to be heavy handed. This was particularly required because EPRDF brought about a dramatic reconstitution of the country and its politics which could be easily broken down if not vigilantly protected. Some of the opposition parties are particularly determined to, as a matter of political goal, return the system back to the pre-EPRDF era structure.  Hence, EPRDF has no option but had to be vigilant and heavy handed when needed. At the same time, it has been the EPRDF's ultimate goal to take the country to the democratic system because "legitimacy" is fundamental. Particularly, in a country where there has never been a single legitimate government, achieving this has been important goal. Such legitimacy is achieved only by winning a "Contested" election. So, for this purpose EPRDF considers it important to negotiate or engage with opposition political parties in order to make the election contestable. We all know that EPRDF had strike a deal with AEUP; ADP, and CUD parties. But, here is the catch -- these parties are not going to make the election contestable everywhere. AEUP and ADP parties will have compete or have base only in Amhara inhabited areas as we all know. That means, EPRDF will not have contestants in Tigray and Most of Oromiya.  However, if Medrek is coming on board, EPRDF is going to face competition in these main regions because of ARENA and the two Oromo Parties - Bingo! This will make the election contestable and whoever wins will have a moral and constitutional legitimacy.  So, walking extra miles to get Medrek on board worth the effort. I believe that the PM would like to achieve this goal since the risk of being derailed back to the pre-EPRDF Ethiopia is now almost impossible. What is now left in the reconstruction project is a vibrant democracy only.  I wish him success during his last term as a PM.

The problem is now with the  supporters - including yourself- and many low key players of the party who don't seem to be confident that the EPRDF will win and continue to rule if the political space is sufficiently open and concerns of the opposition is fully addressed. The two writings on your website which prompted me to write this e-mail are reflections of these tendencies. Can we be rest assured that  EPRDF, as a party that has a lot of advantages, and   competing on its achievements will definitely win an election that is extremely free as far as there is no hate propaganda permitted as in 2005?  This means, instead of crying foul and asking the EPRDF to block certain opposition parties; rather than advising heavy handedness, can we rather move to advising strategies of winning a freely contested election?

Thank you.

Gurummesa Gurum  11/20/09