A mute observer of the goings on
around the 2010
Ethiopian Elections
In Ethiopia’s truly long, complex
and great history, this is the first time that I feel my country is emerging,
once and for all, from the endless want the poor endured. No matter how glorious the Axumite civilization or that of Lalibela,
or the Gonderine or the Walaita
and the Ghibe or the Harari
Kingdoms etc... were, we know that the people who
owned the least resource suffered horrendous deprivation throughout the ages. It is in this context that I voted last
Sunday, for the first time in my life, because I felt that considering the
economic boom in the country and the process of democratization that is
evident, perhaps more so to us Ethiopians, it was time that I finally believed
the change is here to stay. It is also
in this context that I share my views with whoever is interested.
My
not wanting anyone to mar my first experience as a voter not withstanding, I
believe that the Government was too optimistic to invite European
Observers. The reader may ask why and
the following is my argument.
First
and foremost, I would have thought that Ethiopians are the right observers for
any of our elections. A group could
organize itself taking individuals from all walks of life, in all regions, to
be its members and observe.
I
say this because I believe that observing needs a deep knowledge of the society
that is electing its leaders. The
members of the EUEOM may not have that deep a knowledge or the sensitivity to Ethiopia’s
or indeed Africa’s realities. Otherwise
I have nothing against them.
The
leader of the EUEOM in his statement before the election said that he was not
in Ethiopia to make history. I ask
myself why he needed to make this statement in the first place. Is it because he thought Anna Gomes made history? I would have thought she made a mess of
whatever history she had before she came to Ethiopia to observe the election of
2005, though I was not interested in the whole thing at the time, as I was not
in the country.
However,
the optimism to invite Europeans to observe African elections is a misplaced
optimism though I truly believe that the gesture has made me respect the
governments’ confidence on itself.
The
fact that the leader of the EU EOM, Mr Thijs Berman among many other points, mentioned, as
positive, the Code of Conduct and yet said nothing about those who refused to
sign and abide by it is strange, to say the least. He, Mr. Berman has mentioned several
positive and negative points regarding the government and the National Election
Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) but said nothing of those who, in my view, are not
helping the democratization process in the country by refusing to sign the Code
of Conduct. I am of course thinking about the MEDREK. In my view this is telling about the
observers themselves. I had expected and
hoped that this point would be raised by these European Observers when I read
their statement on one of the websites.
Nothing of the sort! Though I an not that surprised
to learn this, I hope that the Government would be more reflective before they
invite European observers in 2015, the year of that MDG, which I believe my
country will pass with flying colors. To
what, I pray, will the EUEOM attribute that success, to lack of level playing
field in the process of democratization in Ethiopian? That indeed would be a
glaring contradiction since no progress would be possible in Ethiopia in the absence
of a level plying field!