For a major departure in the political culture

By Tesfaye Hailu

Aug 26, 2010

Ethiopia's political elites have been in thorny disagreements on whether this or that ideology would fit to prosper the nation yielding polarized political regimes since the creation of Ethiopia. Dissidents were considered as a nuisance by the various political regimes in Ethiopia. The prevailing political system was such an unaccommodating one that whoever was opposed to the ruling class had to be imprisoned, tortured or at best eliminated. Taking up arms was the order of the day. As rifts escalated within the same political circle or in the other extreme, political elites became furious of one another. And this fermented grudge, hostility, conspiracy and political intrigues in the course of which dissidents were executed. The lucky ones fled the country. And the country suffered from hegemonic political manipulation. Many were desperate to flee their country. Some never gave up fighting the hegemonic political system which they had escaped from.

Having been provided with political asylum in the Western, they would seek foreign assistance—logistics, financial, military and others to advance their causes. In view of the geo-political importance of the region, Ethiopian rebels were most welcome anywhere else and they were never deprived of political asylum and support to wage war in Ethiopia. As a result of which, the cream of the society in various era were sacrificed and more so, there has never been stable political system and government in Ethiopia.

Appreciating the noble causes and the persistent devotion which the past generation died for to safeguard the nation from foreign aggression, what this generation has inherited from the past is a weak and unstable state, where the sole solution to erupting conflicts is taking up arms. I believe, most of the country's resources were used for destruction, not for nation building. To my knowledge, the concept of building this nation is a recent phenomenon. So, the prevailing situation was just conducive for enemies of the country who took advantages of the political instability to aggravate the turmoil and sow the seed of division and instability in the country. This has been so perpetual in the history of Ethiopia.

Present-day Ethiopia has changed the course of that feud. At present, various political forces can operate in the country within the bounds of the Ethiopia constitution. Today, political forces are not prohibited from advancing their causes. This is not because they will not find a safe haven in the region or they will not get the support of some forces. It is not either that Ethiopia does not have enemies near and far who are looking for a convenient time to add fuel to the flames in the country. But a fundamental political departure has prevailed in Ethiopia. Indeed, Ethiopians have regretted the past.

Today, citizens have the right to follow a religion or political belief of their choice as stipulated in Article 38 of the Constitution. So, differences of opinion which emanate from political, religious or cultural orientations are respected in constitution. Unlike in the old days, individual and collective rights are not subjected to violation or suppression by the will of individuals or institutions whatsoever. These are rights citizens enjoy. The fundamental democratic and human rights which the old successive generations have been struggling for are guaranteed in the Constitution. As a young democracy, there are imperfections here and there in areas of governance, building democracy and in enforcing laws and order. But it must not be forgotten that Ethiopia is in a radical political departure where ,fundamentally, there is an enabling environment for opposition parties to pursue their causes peacefully and in a legal manner. There are also numerous achievements that the EPRDF-led government has attained. It is not surprising if there are execution limitations. What is more important is the ability to learn from past mistake and improve governance shortcomings.

Given the standing of the opposition in Ethiopia, criticism is mounting putting the blame on the government. In the first place, it must be clear that the opposition political parties are not the product of EPRDF. Political parties in Ethiopia mushroomed in post 1991, after EPRDF overthrew the Derg through armed struggle. This writer does not believe that the rational for the formation of many opposition parties was not just to advance a genuine national or ethnic-based causes in its strict sense thereby to attract the hearts and minds of the majority of the target population or constituency. For some, forming a political party was just a fashion, perhaps as a means of earning a livelihood, though that was their constitutional right. For many others, the formation of political parties was necessitated out of their deep hatred of EPRDF. And most important of all, almost all of them never had a belief in the Constitution—they were oscillating between peaceful and armed struggle though they did not tell that in public. The fact that many opposition parties, with polarized political stance, forming a coalition at times only to remove EPRDF from power vividly validates this assertion. Further, they suffered from internal divisions and rifts resulting in denunciation and excommunication of one another. This writer strongly shares the stance of the government that the opposition does not have a clear policy and strategy for the Ethiopian people. The opposition seemed to have mistakenly taken for granted the massive support they had enjoyed in election 2005. Against a back drop of this, the government is not to blame for loss of public credibility in the opposition. The share of the government, if not totally nil, is very minimal.

The way forward is the most important point for Ethiopian political elites. So, it is imperative to draw proper lessons from past mistakes. This is crucial not only for the opposition but also for EPRDF, for the academic community, for Ethiopians in the Diaspora and the public at large. And there is no any more opportune moment than today.

The Ethiopian political elites must forget the past. Aggression was the only avenue Ethiopia have followed in many millennia. Pursuing one's motive through that line is not acceptable today. Some political elites in the Diaspora have to swallow this bitter pill that taking arms to launch offensive on Ethiopian soil has been closed for ever. It is in recognition of this fact that the Western Somali Liberation Front (WSFL) has signed peace deal with the government. Negotiation with the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) is also under way. This is a major departure for the Somali State in particular and the Ethiopian public in general. The door for peace in Ethiopia is open. And I hope others will follow suit.

Perhaps, there are some who misconceive the idea of convening peace talks with the government as conceding defeat. This is to fail to learn from mistakes. This was a suborn political game in the old days. This was the political system which plagued the nation. This was the misguided and failed strategy of the past whose remnants and some enemies of Ethiopia want to implement in their desperate attempt to obstruct the pace of development in the country. For such forces, political instability is conducive to advance their causes and that Ethiopia has to remain politically unstable. For such forces, a strong Ethiopia is simply a threat.

As the country faces multiple challenges, the will and involvement of every citizen is imperative to overcome the difficulties which confront us. We should not simply condemn the old generation for handing down Ethiopia of their creation. That was simply what they were capable of. The crucial task ahead of us is to show perseverance to form a unifying collective mind set, political consciousness and high spirit to gain maximum leverage for nation building. We have to consolidate the democracy, the rule of law, the avenue of peaceful struggle and pass down to posterity. As we ruined this nation, we are the ones who must build it.

We Ethiopians must be proud of our government. We must acknowledge the extraordinary political leadership and conviction of the incumbent in registering remarkable economic growth in the country. As the saying strike the iron when it is hot has it, we t have to step up the ongoing poverty alleviation efforts. A country with few schools and universities cannot produce enough educated citizens. So, schools and universities have to be expanded. A country with a low level of infrastructure cannot attract local and foreign investors. So, the country has to expand the construction of roads and other infrastructure development. A society so divided cannot build a nation, so we have to forge our unity.

As we move ahead, we have to be ready to face challenges. We have to tighten our belt to strengthen the gains we have made thus far. Peace, development and democracy are the core values that we must strive to consolidate. And we have to emphatically say no to those forces who want to tell us what is good for us. We are proud we have visionary leaders. And we must not deviate from our goals every time allegations come out under the cloak of “ concerns of democracy, human rights” from the western world.

Of course, as a poor nation, Ethiopia needs to forge its multilateral cooperation—trade, diplomatic, cultural and economic ties with others. But this does not mean that the country agrees with others on all counts. Like other nations, Ethiopia has its own national interests which it cannot compromise. There are occasions where poor nations are dubbed as “ nations of human rights concerns” by Western nations whenever the former defy the prescribed preconditions set for them by the latter. In the first place, Ethiopian citizens, particularly the diaspora, should place maximum trust on their government, not on the governments of Western nations. So, it must be understood that the Western nations are not more concerned than Ethiopians are about this country's future : prosperity or democracy or livelihoods of the people or whatever. Many people mistakenly believe that whatever the Western nations say against our government is true. This was evident in 2005. I believe it us Ethiopians who must follow the short cut for our development and we must explain to our friends that is our choice. To my knowledge, what invokes disputes among nations is the issue of national interest. The mystery that many summits in the world have not brought about the intended international consensus is because of the intention of superpowers not to compromise their own interest. The multilateral and bilateral diplomatic, economic, cultural and trade cooperation among nations are hinged on their national interests.

Induced by individual grudges, hostility, hatred, scores of Ethiopians were drifting into serving the interest of other forces against their own country and people. It is noted that those in the Ginbot 7 had links with Shabia just to smuggle insurgents to carry out terrorist activities. Some Egyptian politicians owing to their grievances over the signing of the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA for equitable utilization of the Nile waters have also established links with Ginbot 7 and one faction of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) to destabilize Ethiopia. What must be clear to friends and foes is that such kind of political miscalculation cannot have any impact. Ethiopia has just past such political intrigues.

Those Ethiopians who oscillate between serving such forces have to accept the truth even if it is bitter that the incumbent government is serving Ethiopia and Ethiopians, not others. To help us swallow this truth, we have to see the achievements: the double digit economic growth, the huge hydro power stations, the road sector, the democratization and good governance endeavours etc.

In the past, regrettably, we were hearing of many Ethiopians in the diaspora following the tide of those who were criticizing the government. This was due to the influence of hatred and hostility which invoked suspicion among fellow Ethiopians and political forces to blindly accept the propaganda and join violent forces , giving way to the enemies of the country. As seeking political asylum holding grudges against the government in power and those in the administration has been the practice for quite a long time, such individuals or groups easily fell prey to the manipulation of those

who have the political, economic and military muscles . They promoted the ideology of the host country just echoing : “ We have concerns in the press law. We are deeply concerned about the opposition. We have expressed about the decree of the new law.” Sadly, they also condemned those moderate Ethiopians who were seeking peaceful negotiations among political elites.

But who benefited from that cynical game ? Hardliner Ethiopians, the Ethiopian people,the Ethiopian government or the Ethiopian Diaspora? None other than the architects.

My point of argument is not that people must not leave their country. Nor is that political elites should not disagree with those in power. My thesis has to do with the political culture of Ethiopians. Under the cloak of breaches of freedom of expression, human rights violations and so on and so forth, the Western nations have been successful to capture the hearts and minds of those emigrating to them, they provide them political asylum, there is no wrong with it. They provide them trainings and bring them to government powers in Third World thinking that they would serve their interest.

I am not favouring rogue governments that deprive of their own people the right to express their opinion and violate human and democratic rights as well as economic rights. But the hidden agenda is that the superpowers who consider themselves as the guardians of what they call “irresponsible or rogue nations” are even more more rogue for their mischief to the people and government of the Third World. We can cite a number of nations whose resources are abused by the rich nations. We can enumerate a range of intrigues Western nations played in the political and economic affairs of sovereign states. Their foreign policies are so misguided that poor nations should simply swallow what they are told. Superpowers want to dictate even the kinds of laws the legislative wants to pass. The Ethiopian government is not accountable to the Western nations. It is accountable to the Ethiopian people. Some Ethiopians abroad blindly echo the rhetoric of these nations. International financial organizations like the IMF urged the Ethiopian government on several occasions to slow down the pace of economic growth. As these institutions are manipulated by the Western nations , they often set tough preconditions for poor nations to comply in order to qualify for loans. The foreign policy of superpowers is to seek advantages even through wrongs and unfair means.

I am delighted that score of Ethiopian in the diaspora are beginning to change their old perception of our government. Some Ethiopians who went to street in Washington DC in support of our government is a case in point. I think the old days are beginning to wane. Irrespective of differences in our political affiliation, Ethiopians in the diaspora have to guard the interest of their country. They have to show unequivocal stance in the affairs of the national interest. Let alone the Ethiopian government which is a developmental state even the rogue nations have their own national interest that their respective nationals support.

No matter how ideologically we are divided, we are the ones who must narrow our own differences through peace means. If we fail to do that we are simply creating conducive situations directly or indirectly for others to meddle in out affairs. I am not rejecting the roles others play to mediate us with our rivals that happened or may happen in the future, this is just a noble cause; even then , we must not accept everything prescribed to us. We must not give way to those who have vested interests in Ethiopia.

Political elites may not necessarily agree on all issues to work together for the good of the nation. Some political forces must not also be so short-sighted to see the political implications of today's decision in twenty or thirty years time as ordinary citizens. If the scope of political elites are so narrow as those of the laypersons who show just reactions to the rising cost of living, high tax rates and high education fee without realizing the far reaching implications , I'm afraid what drives these forces is not strategic thinking but the day to day challenges facing us , though I am not arguing that the government should not respond to rising cost of living, inflation or other immediate needs of the society. Political actors should also have short- , medium-, and long-term strategy that would drive the nation.

In sum, we have to revitalize the old political culture which miserably shaped our collective thinking and the country at large. We have to agree that we must launch a revolution in such a way that trust not mistrust, harmony not hatred, unity not division, peace not war, prosperity not debacle prevail in our country. And more so, we must pass down a stable and strong nation to posterity. For what more noble cause can we commit ourselves than to establishing and consolidating a solid foundation and pass it down to the next generation? We must constitute a democratic government and exercise democracy. We have to uphold rule of law. We have to restore lasing peace. So, all Ethiopians must be on board to achieve our targets. The recent rally Ethiopians staged in Washington DC. in support of the Ethiopian government is indeed inspiring. Ethiopians elsewhere need to follow suit to promote the interest of the nation.