Change must first come within our hearts. We, Ethiopians, in Diaspora need to come to a new understanding that transcends the bitterness, petty grudges, personal animosity and hatred, recrimination and distrust because of the past injustices. At a time when lawful internal opposition is crushed, dissent stamped out, human rights trampled upon, famine is spreading like wildfire, and we cannot afford to stand by idly suspicious and distrustful of each other. We have a higher duty that requires us to purge our hearts of thoughts and feelings that weaken us as a united democratic opposition. The time has come to take a stand, to make a public declaration that our differences are far less important than the urgent need to work together in the cause of freedom, democracy and human rights in Ethiopia. We must replace the self-defeatism and self-doubt which weighs heavily on our hearts today with the courage of a can-do spirit and defiance in the face of Evil. We must stop practicing the politics of personal destruction of our allies and potential allies in the cause and embrace the politics of collective reconciliation and consensus-building. We must begin to cultivate a genuine sense of brotherhood and sisterhood.
One of Ethiopia’s unique virtues is its multi century tradition of the coexistence of people with various Semitic faiths which exist to the present day of Ethiopia. Religious conflict has long affected mankind before any political discourse ever descended to armed conflicts and indeed the subjugation of any nation by conquest of war even in today’s modern geopolitical theater. What makes today’s terrorist conflict more dangerous is it mushrooms not from super power ideology of the cold war, but indeed from long unresolved religious conflicts, injustice and maltreatment that has reignited with such unprecedented zeal for global domination. From the world snapshot and especially the geographic location where our nation lies, Ethiopia remains the only independent nation who has contained these elements of highly explosive mixtures to live together side by side in peace and tranquility for hundreds of years.
By in large, The Ethiopian Christians, Moslems and Jews together have long recognized the individual right to worship free from any coercion and persecution as the only way to social cohesiveness of the nation. Throughout Ethiopia evidence of common inter-religious and ethnic marriages, co-observation of holidays, social assimilation, mutual dependence for trade and even the gallant sacrifices shared to defend the freedom of the country is a rare find anywhere on earth. It is a unique model in play when considering the approximation of the very region to where these religions originated from, and thus remains the great wonder of Ethiopia’s history. This virtue is in our genes passed on from our forefathers, and it is truly Ethiopia’s greatest gift to the world.
The current ruling party represents a self obsessed ethnic faction and denies the reality of mismanagement which is a common tactic that substitutes deliberate ignorance for thoughtful planning and has sworn to dismember the very state it rules and ignorantly planning to create civil conflict between all the ethnic parties. The EPRDF regime who rules with impunity is devoid of the tiniest drop of national interest thereby relinquishing the mandate for Ethiopia’s history or its consequential legacy. The people of Ethiopia and only them who collectively continue to exhibit these important elements for peaceful coexistence among different religious and ethnic groups are the only owners of such asset. Ironically, those were the Ethiopians who in 2005 went out in unprecedented numbers to give the opposition party the clear choice, and more importantly the necessary democratic mandate to govern them. There lies the unique opportunity and the necessary tools to fight global/regional terrorism which the world was never privileged to see under PM Meles Zenawi.
Today, we must develop a new approach to the struggle for democracy in Ethiopia based on an express commitment to a set of core values and principles that will enable us to defer our differences for another time.
That’s why The Solidarity Movement for New Ethiopia, spearheaded by our own human rights activist a young Ethiopian genius, leader Obang Metho, reminds everyone of us that our core values must be built on two compelling principles of no one is free in Ethiopia unless we all are free and to do so we need to put our humanity before ethnicity. How profound and transformational is that declaration or affirmation? If we aspire to these two core principles, open our minds and hearts and collectively pull together, we will soon find ourselves in an indomitable situation. Our unity will be indispensable among so many fragmented parties.
We are becoming a culture of nit-pickers who likes naming, blaming, shaming and who cannot even talk to each other civilly let alone unite and present a credible alternative to a forthright and unwavering leadership. Because of our fragmentation and inability to forge a common democratic front and maintain solidarity, we have been unable to act effectively and help our people in the motherland. Because we have been unable to learn from our past mistakes, make corrections and come to a collective resolution on an action plan to help overcome the challenges facing the motherland, we find ourselves in a state of political paralysis. Because we have been locked into despotism for so long where only one side wins and the other side always loses, we find ourselves in an endless loop of loose-lose outcomes. Because we have been concerned with turf - some political leaders want to maintain insularity and primacy, some civic society leaders run their organizations through a narrow field of vision, political and civic groups often compete for the same base of membership often resulting in conflict and antagonisms, etc. We have been unable to focus our collective energies on the enormous tasks before us.
That’s why I absolutely support and endorse the solidarity movement for representing all Ethiopians, for unity is the one and only way we can forge forward. Now is the time!
If Zenawi leaves tomorrow, the symptom that manifested itself in his dictatorship may be removed; however, the traditional disease of despotism, intolerance of dissent, narrow-mindedness and prejudice will not be gone with him.
So, extreme care must be exercised by all parties not to antagonise or drive the already volatile and violent government to torture and slaughter its own innocent people as revenge again. They (the current government) have their own right like any other party to represent themselves as an incumbent candidate for the coming elections. It is up to the Ethiopian people to stand for themselves and reclaim the freedom they have lost in 2005 election. In 2010, a democratic election can only take place with our unity, common decency and fully monitored by the world community representatives. This time, with an absolute care and without the agony of repeating the 2005 election massacre unnecessarily, all Ethiopians back home and in Diaspora must come together as one to unshackle over a decades of injustice by the repressive EPRDF Party.
PEACE TO THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE!
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