Violent democracy and other issues in Ethiopia today

In this very brief note, I will analyse some of the current issues in Ethiopia.

Democracy

There is no period in the history of contemporary Ethiopia when there has ever been a regime which can be described as democratic. Subsequent political regimes of Ethiopia hardly submit themselves to democracy and democratic tenets. Without going too far and focusing on the current regime, the pronouncements of its officials demonstrate that they often use the words: ruling party translating it locally as a "gezh parti" which literally translates to "a purchasing" or "overlording" party. They could have used phrases like a party in power, or even better a "party in office" which clearly states that the period in power is determinate and that power is vested in the people.

Developmental State

Of late, the PM Meles came to a sudden realisation that the state is best that is developmental. After 17 years in power, it downed on these people that poverty is the prime enemy to be overcome by "developmental state." They pulled examples from Asian countries which had authoritarian polities with development-oriented politicians. Unbeknown to Meles is the state he presides is not given to developmental dispensation; it is inherently discriminatory; suppresses development which is not in its liking.

Federalism

TPLF is EPRDF and EPRDF is largely TPLF. Non-TPLF elements of EPRDF have little life of their own. Its federal system is the name used to portray some form of acceptable structure of governance but in substance these federations are not autonomous. The ruling regime (TPLF) appoints its members or supporters to these regions and they have no autonomous and independent local initiation. Secondly, those who demonstrate independent capacity to lead and cause development at local, regional levels are discouraged or barred from action. In other words, while the concept of federation is useful, it is abused.

AFD

AFD is unholy alliance with shrunk brains and long arms given to paralysing influences and arm-twisting. In its brief life of less than two years, what it achieved is creating more and more schemes and divisions and less progress for all those who become its signatories. There is little that unites a CUD with ONLF, EPPF with OLF other than a temporary political exigency to appease its sponsors who have no place for the wellbeing of the peoples these groupings claim to represent.

CUD

CUD was a quick fix created for one and one thing: to take power and take power. For its leaders and supporters, democracy in Ethiopia begun and ended in May 2005. The quick fix of four disparate groups whose interest aligned on two things: against the … TPLF rule, and against what they call narrow nationalists (euphemism for resistance against oppression of nations and nationalities). To their credit, they dealt a blow to the TPLF/EPRDF in towns including Addis Ababa. For all practicalities, their victory should never be taken as endorsement of their policies, which they advertised aggressively using the government’s own media which is always off limits to the oppressed people. What the people endorsed was the overwhelming rejection of the tyrannical and violent rule by the incumbent.

The CUD bunch of disparate parties used the election of May 2005 as a shortcut to return of the status quo for people of the past. They saw the coalition is a way to sneak in a vacuum created by complete distaste of the TPLF tyranny. When the incumbent rigged the results and declared itself a winner, power seemed far off the road. In a culture of winner takes all, CUD lost out, and those who mobilised around it start to fly to different directions, some to prisons, others to kangaroo parliament. The very concept of unity and democracy is problematic in Ethiopia where human rights are violated for people as people and as individuals. The CUD does not have a satisfactory answer to the critical problems of nations and nationality.

HR2003

Democracy is never built from outside, but the outside world becomes an obstacle when it support non-democratic status quo. What HR2003 is doing it attempts to remove some of the obstacles to democratisation, its support to the regime and even preventing its members to travel to other destinations. It creates an aura of accountability. If a regime is not accountable to the very people it presides over, the captive domestic population, it has to answer to higher authority.

Regional Instability

The TPLF has decided to occupy a conflict ridden Somalia in December 2006. It helped a weak transitional government put together in Kenya a few years earlier. Both fought a movement with religious overtures to overcome clan affiliation. In less than year, Somalia is still filled with violence and leaders of the restored government are locked in conflict. The TPLF set no deadlines to withdraw or does not have a post-invasion action plan. Instead it cracked down on Ogaden dissent with genocidal proportions. It uses two terms (terrorism and extremism crafted by the US war on terrorism) to push its agenda of terrorism and extremism. Who knows the next extreme step: another war with Eritrea? Judging from the past experience, the question is not of knowing whether it will happen or not, it is of knowing when.