From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Tue Dec 01 2009 - 05:32:15 EST
President Isaias urges Ethiopian opposition to get serious
December 1st, 2009
By Elias Kifle
http://www.ethiopianreview.com/content/11554
isaias afewerki 26320When it comes to the ruling tribal junta in Ethiopia,
there is no one who has as much clarity as President Isaias Afwerki of
Eritrea. He knows their real nature, what and how they think, their
weaknesses, strength, and modus operandi. This is hardly surprising since he
is the one who guided them all the way to Menelik's palace in Addis Ababa. A
few years later they turned around and stabbed him in the back and waged a
war of attrition against Eritreans. Simply put, to Isaias and the Eritrean
leadership, Woyanne is an experiment that went terribly wrong. To
Ethiopians, it is a long nightmare. This monster must be eliminated soon in
order for peace to prevail in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and whole Horn of Africa
region.
Meles Zenawi and members of his Woyanne junta know full well Isaias
Afwerki's intention and what he is capable of. They live in constant fear
with the realization that their treachery, as well as the ethnic cleansing
they perpetrated against Eritreans will not go unpunished. That is why mere
mention of the name Isaias, and discussions about cooperation between
Ethiopian opposition groups and the Eritrean government send chills through
their spine.
To protect themselves from Eritrea's wrath, Woyannes have stationed over
80,000 troops right at the border in Tigray and moved most of their air
force from central Ethiopia closer to Eritrea. They are also laboring day
and night to have the U.S. Government and European Union to label Eritrea as
a terrorism sponsoring state, to no avail so far.
Meles and gang, however, need not worry too much about Eritrea, because when
the time comes, they will face fire not just from the north. Even the Agazi,
Meles and Azeb's Praetorian Guards, could turn against them. A few months
ago the Deputy Commander of Agazi, Col. Alebel, has defected and he is now
advising EPPF and Ginbot 7. We all remember what happened to Romanian
dictators Nicolae and Elena Ceaušescu in not too distant past. They appeared
invincible, protecting themselves with layers of secret and intelligence
services, while perpetrating horrible crimes against their people. The two
monsters were later executed by their own special forces after a hasty trial
and conviction on genocide and corruption charges when the people of Romania
finally said enough.
Meles and Azeb are similarly responsible for genocide and massive
corruption. They have committed mass murder against the peoples of Ogaden
and Gambela where they burned entire villages, and in Somalia where Meles
Zenawi's soldiers raped Somali women, slit the throats of religious leaders,
slaughtered over 20,000 Somali civilians and made 2 million Somalis
homeless. Woyanne crimes in Addis Ababa, Gonder, Gojjam, Wollo, Ambo,
Beninshangul, and other cities and regions of Ethiopia are too numerous to
list. A time will come to account for all of them.
Discussion with Isaias Afwerki
It is with all this in mind that I met with President Isaias for the second
time last month at his office in Eritrea's capital Asmara. I went to Asmara
on my way to visit leaders and fighters of the Ethiopian People's Patriotic
Front (EPPF) and attend their 2-day conference. The President invited my
colleague Sileshi Tilahun and I for tea, which turned into a long
conversation that took almost 3 hours. A few months earlier, in May this
year, he gave us a 4-hour interview that has created a political wave in
both the Ethiopian and Eritrean communities.
What I found striking when I met with Isaias Afwerki on both occasions was
how humble, casual, and approachable he is. In describing President Isaias,
the Woyanne propaganda machine tries to draw a picture of a power crazed
madman, some one like Stalin or Idi Amin - chest full of medals, protected
by a battalion of heavily armed, bulking bodyguards, living in huge palaces.
I have seen none of that. There is no pomp and circumstance around Isaias
Afwerki, and I did not see a horde of assistants circling him. I saw only
one secretary who let us into his office. There is a spartan simplicity to
the office itself - little decoration and some very uncomfortable chairs. I
was told later that he made the chairs himself in his workshop.
The president received us warmly, with a broad smile and genuine sense of
friendship. Sipping tea, we began our conversation. Sileshi and I started
out by discussing the effect of his May 2009 historical interview. We delved
into specific examples of the impact it is having. We summed it up by saying
that there is now a much more improved atmosphere between Ethiopians and
Eritreans as a result of what the president said in the interview. For many
Ethiopians, the president's words had a transformational effect on their
view of Eritrea and its current leadership.
As some one who keeps himself well informed (some say he is an information
addict), President Isaias is well aware of what is being said and discussed
in the Ethiopian community. And he seems to be encouraged by the numerous
positive comments he has heard and read, many of which were coming from some
of his harshest critics in the Ethiopian community. He said that awareness
of the need to come together "is now better than a year ago."
The president is eager to build on the success of his outreach to
Ethiopians. He urged us to help organize dialogue - similar to the public
meeting that was held in Washington DC on August 9, 2009, by the EPPF
chapter - between Ethiopians and Eritreans around the world.
On Ethiopian opposition parties
In this our second meeting with Isaias Afeworki, the other main topic of
discussion was the current state of the Ethiopian opposition movement. The
President is straightforward about it. He said that "the leadership is
detached from the people."
Indeed, the only reason Woyanne continues to cause havoc in Ethiopia and the
Horn of Africa is that there is no viable opposition party that is prepared
to take over power from Woyanne. Most of the Ethiopian opposition leaders
are halfhearted about the struggle. As the president put it, "there has to
be an effective leadership in the field. The country is vast. You can lead
an opposition group from right outside of Addis Ababa. There needs to be
action on the ground."
President Isaias told us that "Ethiopian political leaders continue to fail
their people." He recommends that the opposition leaders need to leave their
comfortable homes in Europe and the U.S. and relocate to Ethiopia's
mountains and jungles, if they are serious about bringing change. Any
opposition leader who is not willing to do that cannot and should not be
taken seriously.
"Woyanne will collapse through evolution. Let's revolutionize the process,"
the president said. To that end, Ethiopian opposition groups need to come
together and craft a "commonpolitical platform, which is lacking today."
He expressed his hope that such a common political agenda and an inclusive
united front of Ethiopian opposition parties will be formed before the end
of this year (European calendar).
President Isaias says that his government is not shy about supporting
Ethiopian freedom fighters. But the actual struggle must be waged by
Ethiopia's opposition groups themselves. What Eritrea wants to get in return
is a "safe neighborhood," a peaceful region, according to the president. He
also envisions the creation of an economic integration among Horn of African
nations. That is not possible as long Ethiopia continues to be ruled by a
<http://zikkir.com/words/index.php?title=Ravenous> ravenous tyranny that
attacks any thing it cannot control and leach on.
Even though currently there are some encouraging signs - such as an
increased effort to form a united front - the foot-dragging by many of the
leaders of the oppositionparties continue, unfortunately. If they don't come
together and form an effective united front before Woyanne's fake elections
in May 2010, there needs to be a revolution in the opposition camp itself -
all the leaders of these parties must resign and give a chance to the
younger generation to take the lead.
