Ethiopia: Illegitimate Regime Imposes New Parliament
Amanuel Biedemariam
In May of 2005, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) EPRDF
regime conducted a national election and the people of Ethiopia voted
to oust the late tyrant Meles Zenawi and his EPRDF TPLF party
overwhelmingly.
Meles Zenawi and his TPLF EPRDF cronies did not envision the outcome.
Addis Ababa saw the largest demonstration ever. The newly formed
party Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) posed immediate threat
to the ruling party. Hence, without hesitation and fear of
repercussion, Meles did what he does best; jail and kill the leaders
of the opposition en-masse.
Meles Zenawi’s response was swift-brutality executed with
determination and without hesitation. Ethiopian security forces
killed 193 demonstrators and over 30,000 Ethiopians were detained.
Subsequently, in November of the same year, live gunfire was directed
at innocent demonstrators where over 60,000 protesters and the
coalition leaders were arrested.
Right then the TPLF EPRDF regime of Meles Zenawi lost its legitimacy
in the eyes of the people of Ethiopia. Ethiopians in the Diaspora took
to the streets all around the world and protested condemning the
barbaric actions of the TPLF regime. Ethiopians believed that the
heinous crimes committed by the regime was worthy of international
attention and appealed to the leaders of the US, UK and others.
In July of 2005, two months after the bloody sham election, George
Bush and Tony Blair assembled a group of African leaders as key
figures to represent Africa’s interest in the G8 gathering in
Gleneagles England. Meles Zenawi was one of the leaders that
represented Africa to the dismay of Ethiopians that demonstrated
against his presence.
To funnel funds, reducing poverty in Africa became the new rallying
cry and Meles Zenawi was selected as a de facto spokesperson for the
new “Make Poverty History” campaign George Bush and Tony Blair pushed.
In September of 2005, Meles Zenawi was a star in a star-studded
Clinton Foundation event that paraded him as a savior of Africa. Meles
was in CNN with many high-profile leaders and stars, and he was
celebrated as if he liberated Africa. The tyrant gloated while
Ethiopians were boiling.
In December of 2006, Meles invaded Somalia and became indispensable
partner on the war on terror. Meles was highly valued mercenary that
the US and EU exploited in their quest to dominate Africa. They sold
him as a pragmatic, articulate, progressive and development oriented
African leader that could do no wrong.
Fast forward to 2015, President Barack Obama and his top national
security aid Susan Rice reveled in the 100% election victory and
rewarded the regime led by the puppet prime minister Hailemariam
Desalegn by a visit to Ethiopia making Obama the first sitting
American President to visit Ethiopia.
Not to be outdone, German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Ethiopia
while the country is embroiled with uprising-on-fire and when the
regime is essentially at war against the people. And said,
“Germany has offered to train Ethiopia's police to deal with the
sometimes-deadly demonstrations.”
This is a pattern and a dance that western powers play and have played
for long. This is an illegitimate regime at war against the people of
Ethiopia being legitimized by Washington and allies so they can keep
pushing their agenda through it. This mercenary regime is vital to
their Africa agenda and its ouster can destroy their agendas
completely. This is a prototype mercenary regime willing to do
anything western powers want in South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea or
anywhere.
The minority regime in Ethiopia knows this well and thus the regime
has never been accountable to the people of Ethiopia and the region.
This means the regime and western powers are joined at the hip. It
also means that Ethiopians struggling against the regime must include
this reality in their calculus.
Intractable Situation
The reality in Ethiopia is grim. For those who follow the developments
closely, it is extremely difficult to predict what the future of
Ethiopia will look like. It is also extremely difficult to piece
together all the moving parts and make sense of it. However, one thing
is very clear, and that is, the current situation in Ethiopia is
unsustainable. Here are some reasons why:
Economy:
· The tourism industry in Ethiopia is damaged and in complete
holt. Regardless of how the regime tries to spin the situation,
tourism is done for good at least until this regime is in power
because the instability in the country is clear for the world to see.
· Investments in Ethiopia are no longer viable for
international investors. Foreign investments in various parts of
Ethiopia have become targets and thus, fair game for destruction
because these investments benefited the regime and not the people.
Foreign investors have lost hundreds of millions of dollars after
demonstrators torched them to the ground.
· The economic infrastructure in the nation is broken because
most of the key segments of the economy are under siege since they are
owned by the minority clique running the country. Trucks loaded with
goods are stopped and destroyed. Road blocks are everywhere making
transportation of goods without military escort impossible.
· Under the state of emergency lockdown, open communication has
become a threat to the regime’s survival. Communication is vital for
commerce and the regime has literally banned all communication.
· The people of Ethiopia have decided to not engage in
commercial activities. They have been demonstrating by closing their
stores. These campaigns are designed to impact the economy.
· Ethiopia cannot afford to pay its troops under the current
state of the country’s economy. With the economy under duress, hard
currency is hard to get. Western donations that have sustained the
corrupt regime thus far will no longer be able to afford to support
the fight against the ever-growing internal armed struggles, growing
resistance against federal police in the country and huge number of
Ethiopian troops occupying Eritrean territories to mention some whilst
spending huge sums of money in South Sudan, Somalia and other places.
Security:
The simplest way to measure the volatility of the situation in
Ethiopia is to look at the developments of Northern Ethiopia.
The Tigray Manifesto clearly states that the number one enemy for the
people of Tigray are the Amhara.
The Amhara’s in turn accuse the TPLF for taking their land, for
forcing millions out of their lands, ethnic cleansing, mass
imprisonment of youth, deliberate rape, torture and mass killing.
Per various accounts, the Amhara people are living in exile just like
Palestinians in their own country. The Tigray People’s Liberation
Front (TPLF) has taken their land and made it part of Tigray. This
aggressive move can only lead to disastrous escalation that will
impact the future of the two regions and by extension the country.
Thus, the Amhara people are waging armed struggle while the TPLF is
showing no sign of compromise. Instead, the TPLF is instigating ethnic
hate by scaremongering, telling the people of Tigray, the Amhara and
Oromo are ganging to kill you.
Furthermore, the Oromo people have been resisting the TPLF for a long
time. The demonstrations that erupted throughout the country started
in Oromia. Yet, the TPLF is defiant and determined not to bring a
lasting solution. To make matters worse, the TPLF is unable and
incapable to bring solution because resolving the Oromo question will
mean the end of TPLF as the Oromo constitute majority in Ethiopia.
Additionally, the minority regime has failed to foster friendly
relation with any ethnic region in the country. To the contrary, it
has killed, created havoc, committed genocidal acts, mass killings in
Ogaden, Gambella and all over Ethiopia.
The above-mentioned complications pose major challenges and the
solutions are not readily visible. Worse yet, the TPLF is making the
situation worse by imposing draconian measures that will escalate the
instability.
The latest reshuffle of the cabinet members exposes the deadly nature
of the group, their unwillingness to see the reality on the ground and
bring a viable solution to stabilize the country. When the people are
asking for fundamental and complete overhaul, the TPLF reshuffled
itself and told the world and Ethiopia here is the reform we are
willing to give.
This is just part of a trend that is pushing the country to the brink.
How can a government that just won 100% of the electorate give a
decree of “State of Emergency” and reshuffle itself soon thereafter?
Conclusion
Today Ethiopia is moving in different directions fast. Ultimately, the
solution must come from Ethiopians however, it will not be easy or
smooth. It may even be bloody.
Ethiopia, over the past seventy years was governed by leaders that
were subservient to the interests of superpowers that undermined the
interests of the masses. It was led by a monarch, a military dictator
and ethnic minority imposing its will on the majority for decades. The
uprisal is a result of decades of poor governance and ethnic
mistreatment that boiled over.
Ethiopia has been subservient to the needs of US, EU, China, Russia
and others. The African Union that is sitting and witnessing the
horror in silence is also a reason why Ethiopia’s woes will not get
international attention.
That said, for the first time in their history, Ethiopians have a
window of opportunity to start fresh and become independent nation
free to make their own choices.
Awetnayu_at_hotmail.com
Received on Sat Nov 05 2016 - 20:28:50 EDT