https://www.opride.com/2016/12/01/merera-gudinas-arrest-signals-end-oromo-opposition-ethiopia/
Merera Gudina’s arrest signals end of Oromo opposition in Ethiopia
3 days ago
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(OPride) — Ethiopian security forces on Wednesday arrested prominent
Oromo opposition leader, Merera Gudina, upon his return from a trip to
Brussels, where he met with EU parliamentarians. He is accused of
violating Ethiopia’s six-month state of emergency decreed in October.
Merera’s crime?
Being pictured with Oromo athlete and Olympic hero Feyisa Lilesa and
the leader of the opposition Patriotic Ginbot 7, Berhanu Nega, during
a November 9 hearing at the European Parliament. Among other things,
the martial law forbids “communicating” with groups that Ethiopia
considers terrorists and anti-peace elements.
Merera, chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), the only
Oromo opposition in Ethiopia, has been a fixture in Ethiopian politics
since the 1960s and a vocal critic of the incumbent regime. He is also
the vice-chairman of Ethiopia’s main legal opposition party, the
coalition Ethiopian Federal Democratic Unity Forum (MEDREK).
Merera, a former member of parliament, is known for his sharp and
witty rebuke of those in power, which he often deployed eloquently
while speaking to foreign journalists.
With Merera’s arrest, now almost all of OFC’s senior leadership is in
jail. Six of Merera’s colleagues, including Deputy Chairman Bekele
Gerba and Assistant General Secretary Dejene Xafa, are on terrorism
trial accused of inciting the Oromo protests. The party’s general
secretary Bekele Nega has been under virtual house arrest since
December 2015. Most of the party’s rank-and-file, as well as district
level officers, are also behind bars.
The ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF)
follows a two-pronged strategy with respect to the opposition. Through
its rhetoric, EPRDF says it seeks a robust multi-party democracy and
usually laments the lack of a vibrant opposition. However, it waits
“for the opposition to grow legs, and then cut them off” — leaving a
few leaders like Merera “floating in the air.” In fact, while the
authorities repeatedly accused Gerba and other OFC leaders for being
rabble-rousers, they conveniently pointed to Merera as evidence of
their tolerance for peaceful opposition. “Look,” EPRDF’s public
relations spin doctors argued, “we are not against all opposition. For
example, Dr. Merara, a vocal critic of the government, walks free.”
Now it appears that both the heads and legs of the Oromo opposition
have been cut off. Merera’s arrest may herald the end of Oromo legal
opposition as we know it. His arrest came on the same day that
Ethiopia’s defense minister and secretary of the command post, Siraj
Fergessa, held talks with the opposition. The next time Ethiopian
authorities want to sit down with the Oromo opposition in the country,
they might as well meet the leaders where they are—at Qilinto or
Maekelawi prisons.
In a letter addressed to Federica Mogherini, the Vice-President of
European Commission, European parliament member Ana Maria Gomes, who
invited Merera to Brussels, called for “a more stringent approach”
from the EU, adding the Ethiopian government “ is not listening” to
calls that it “address the grievances of the population, open
democratic space and respect the population’s fundamental freedom.”
The EPRDF regime is struggling to contain sustained and widespread
protests in Oromia and Amhara states, which together pose the most
serious threat to its power in its quarter of a century rule. More
than 1,000 people have been killed in Oromia alone since the protests
began in November 2015. Since the imposition of martial law, the
regime disclosed that it detained 11,000 people. In reality, tens of
thousands have been arrested across Oromia and Amhara regions in
connection with the protests.
The state of emergency has brought about a temporary lull in street
protests. But, away from the glare of media and amid internet shutdown
and restrictive emergency measures, security forces have continued
their unprecedented witch-hunt against activists, journalists and
artists.
EPRDF leaders, embroiled in growing internal discord, appear unable
and unwilling to heed the protesters’ demands. Instead, they continue
to apply band-aid solutions such as a symbolic cabinet shuffle, which
ignore the protesters’ calls for systemic changes. The ongoing
crackdown has brought the country to a standstill. Investors are
increasingly skittish. The economy has taken a huge nose dive.
Ethiopia’s military rulers cannot arrest their way out of the current
crisis. The tide is turning against the possibility of a nonviolent
solution to Ethiopia’s political crisis. In his 2014 book, Ethiopia’s
Chaotic Political Journey and My Memoirs, Merera wrote, “a starving
society left with nothing to eat will eat its leaders.”
As the military expenditure from the state of emergency deployment
piles up and loss of foreign investment takes increasing toll, his
warnings may soon prove prophetic. Unless the ruling party reverses
course, Ethiopia’s crisis likely to go from bad to worse.
Received on Sun Dec 04 2016 - 15:28:02 EST