Ethiopia was built by our forefathers and foremothers who struggled and sacrificed so that we might live free and better. They shed their blood for centuries to keep our country free from colonial rule; secured our culture and civilization in religion, literature, music and art; maintained our unity and identity as a people and sowed religious and ethnic harmony among them; looked beyond our borders to promote African unity and solidarity; made Ethiopia the center of continental African affairs; insisted the cause of international law and justice before the League of Nations and made Ethiopia a founding member of the United Nations. Like Australia, Ethiopia was hewn from the granite of sacrifices made by ordinary men and women. We must also pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking Ethiopia.
Barack Obama said, “There is not a liberal America and a conservative America. There is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America. There's the United States of America.” He also said, “We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.” Ethiopia is no different. There is no Oromo, Amhara, Tigray, Gurage, … Anuak Ethiopia. There is only one Ethiopia. Its history is shaped by its entire people, its culture and traditions reflect longstanding ties of family, kinship and ancestry.
Another pragmatic issue is an inter-party rivalry problem among the opposition parties. It has been common among the opposition that one opposition party makes a ferocious attack on another party and allegedly tries to sabotage, condemn and undermine the other. For example, ethnic based opposition parties, like the ruling party, have used ethnicity as a weapon to blame and intimidate the other ethnic opposition parties. However, if all opposition parties focus and extend the issue of ethnicity beyond its limits by putting aside the main national issue, then the evils of ethnicity (violence, genocide and so on) might shatter the country’s socio-economic conditions as manifested in perennial famine.
The other problem is personality differences of few opposition personnel. Some opposition parties rely on the charismatic appeal of single individual or few individuals, and decision making is highly centralized. As such, it is the enemy of democracy, and also it will be an obstacle to form coalition, cooperation and to work together with other oppositions. These kinds of parties face split whenever another rising star challenges the founder or the leader of the stronger party. Thus, personality conflicts of few opposition parties have contributed to the emergence of many fragmented political parties that we see both at home and abroad. Of course, the “divide and rule” and the “carrot and stick” policies of the ruling party is the main reason for this to occur and the fragmentation of opposition parties.
Apart from the dictatorial nature and power fixation of the ruling party, the problem of intra-party conflicts, inter-party rivalry and personality conflicts of all opposition groups that follow armed or peaceful struggle have undermined issue-based politics and reinforced the power of the regime. So far, the opposition parties both in the peaceful and armed struggle categories have failed to take a unified stand and miserably failed to coordinate their efforts, giving the current government a chance to use fake elections to perpetuate its rule. Now, it is time for change and all opposition parties to take note of the aforementioned problems and refrain from doing them again. Now, it is not the time to raise the past misdeeds. It is not the time to form a fragmented new opposition parties. Now, it is the time to put aside all that might separate or distract us and focus on freeing Ethiopia as the top overriding issue. Now is the time for all Ethiopians back home and abroad with their ethnic communities and all political parties to start a civil dialogue among themselves to reconcile their differences with the view to form solidarity, if possible or to show willingness for cooperation and collaboration with the aim of living together as a cohesive community and together able to form a transformed New Ethiopia. The cooperation and coordination of all ethnic Ethiopians, communities and all opposition parties is very vital to galvanize a new renaissance that will be able to expose the misdeeds of the ruling party, at the same time, facilitate the struggle against the regime. The grand strategy of solidarity, cooperation, and coordination accompanied by actions of all opposition parties will help to achieve its objectives and defeat the ruling party without violence. Moreover, now is the time even for some “phony oppositions” sponsored by the ruling party to join in the really united opposition parties to free and form New Ethiopia.
The destiny of Ethiopians and Ethiopia is not shaped by petty and small-minded power hungry individuals or by begging foreign countries to cleanup our own back yard but by the courage and sacrifices of its people who has a long standing history of patriotism to crash its invaders united as one. We can repeat that history in the coming election by being united to form the new democratically elected government of Ethiopia without bloodshed. “YES WE CAN”. Why fake it, when we can make it! I think we should congratulate the people of Ghana for continuously showing courage, patience and patriotism in their people’s and party’s unity in forming new governments at every election.
This is our time to answer the questions for this and coming generations, to stand up and declare to ourselves and to the world that the stale political arguments of ethnic division and hatred that have consumed us for so long no longer apply; that the lines of ethnicity, language, religion, class will be deleted from our hearts and our minds. It is time for all Ethiopians back home and around the world and their respective ethnic communities to come together and open their heart for a dialogue of understanding and attain a consensus to compromise each other and embrace the politics of solidarity and practice the divine arts of reconciliation, respect, mutual concern, appreciation and love for each other.
TIME FOR CHANGE!
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