HR
2003, an uncalled for and a misplaced threat
In
a Sea of opportunities for Further Democratization in Ethiopia.
By T.D. Tessema
Ethiopia
has been registering impressive and sustainable socio-economic
growth since the on set of the last decade. It is set to prevail
over poverty and other social ills, which have been its trademark
for eons. The millennium development goals marked by the World
Bank are sure to be met.
The
watermark historic election of May, 2005 has vividly displayed to
the world at large, the political maturity attained and the
multi-party performance excellently exhibited in the election
process. This was amply demonstrated by the millions of voters in
what was a brisk out pouring and massive turn out in the history
of our ancient civilization. A succinct and candid testimony and
corroboration of the fair and free election by international
election monitors and observers none other than the Carter Center,
spearheaded by the renowned and Nobel Prize winner Jimmy Carter,
former U.S Democratic President, the African Union and the Arab
league.
The
European Union, observation mission too, praised the whole process
as fair and free, but cited some irregularities during the
post-election ballot counting. In the aftermath of the election a
totally new phenomenon, which has been brewing clandestinely
transpired by showing its fully fledged conspiratorial, illegal
and UN constitutional stance. The Coalition for Unity and
Democracy (CUD) which was pledging to uphold the rule of law,
subscribe to the constitution both in words and spirit, play by
the rules of the game, respecting the laws and procedures of the
electoral board and accept the Judicial system, openly reneged on
their loyalty to the laws of the land and started to fuel and
inflame ethnic hatred, animosity, violence in their futile attempt
to hold on to the grips of power by galloping on an imaginary and
none-existent path to sit on the saddle of the political pinnacle.
The
CUD shoved aside their vow and promise they had made to respect
the will of the people as expressed by the ballot box, to accept
the verdict and join the parliament, and constructively engage in
the democratization endeavor.
Instead,
they called for an extra Judicial, illegal and unconstitutional
means to unseat the government through street violence, diplomatic
maneuvering and media barrages, with the sinister and ulterior
objective of blemishing and tarnishing the country’s image and
blackmailing the government with the sole and wicked aim of
seizing the acme of power by hoodwinking the people and misleading
the international community.
This
diabolical short-cut alley to power by CUD was frustrated by the
indomitable struggle of the people, nations and nationalities and
the constitutional forces of the nation, resulting in the
incarceration of the champions of emotion and mayhem.
Although
the continued noise of the vociferous and boisterous few and
extreme vocal elements created some impediments, the consummation
was the prevalence of law and order and an added engagement of the
international community in bolstering the on-going democratization
process.
Fast
forward, the CUD leaders were found guilty of treason and act of
conspiring to unseat the incumbent government by reverting to
unlawful and unconstitutional means and were convicted and
sentenced to long and short tern imprisonment.
True
to the spirit of reconciliation, tolerance, inclusiveness and
consensus building the government pardoned over 70 convicted
leaders and members of CUD on the eve of the New Ethiopian
Millennium. The Ethiopian people, the international community and
the silent majority of the Diaspora Ethiopians exuded and
expressed their jubilation and felicitation at the magnanimity and
the wise move of the government, they hoped would lead to further
optimism and positive engagement by all parties, including the now
freed CUD leadership. However, no sooner did they receive, the
amnesty, which showed the farsightedness and open heartedness of
the people and government, which heeded to the traditional
arbitration by the “Shemagles”, wise men and women of
Ethiopia, who initiated and piloted the process of reconciliation,
with out the need for external actors to mediate thereby shelving
off their bossy attitude at intervention; than the CUD leaders
entered into a new chapter of funneling hostility, divisiveness,
clamoring for punitive measures by outside forces, and cashing in
fast and soft money from their cash cows in the ranks of the
extreme Diaspora paraphernalia.
In
this unholy and unceremonious efforts the CUD leaders have aligned
themselves in practice, with the forces of anti-Ethiopia agenda,
i.e. the rogue and terrorist regime in Asmara, Al-Queda elements
in Somalia and their surrogates within Ethiopia, who have opted
for violence as a means of their ill-designed struggle to create
havoc and chaos, up to and including the ultimate dismemberment of
the country. In this crusade, the CUD leaders have embarked upon a
frenzy calculus by unleashing a two-pronged struggle of
hoodwinking U.S lawmakers, by painting grim pictures of the
incumbent regime, as an authoritarian, and undemocratic in the
eyes of the blindfolded few Diaspora elements and few lawmakers.
To this end cunningly pretending oblivious to the fact on the
ground, the CUD leaders are preaching their smear campaign and
pocketing lavish amount of alms money, and lecturing members of
the House of Representatives. There is no disputing the stark and
glaring fact that they were granted clemency by the people and
government upon their voluntary request and pleadings to see the
light of the day and to straddle far and near the world over in
the spirit of consensus building and reconciliation. what is
saddening and stunning is that the CUD leaders in concert with the
blind and hate-saddled extreme Diaspora elements, have won over to
their side, to fan up their diatribe, some irresponsible members
of the House of Representatives who paradoxically, it appears are
out to undermine the hard-won democratic gains in Ethiopia,
through the passage of the so-called HR 2003, which was ratified
by the House on October 2, 2007.
It
is no secret that the democratic majority house, has only one
agenda to drive through. It is to embarrass the Republican
administration in the White House and disarm President Bush, in
his uncompromising and steadfast stand to fight global terrorism
tooth and nail. A case in point is their incredulous attempt to
eject the US out from its anti-terrorist fight, with the hope of
building an electoral base in the American constituency for the
up-coming 2008 election and bear fruit for the eventual control of
the White House.
Ethiopia,
as a staunch ally of the US on the fight against international
terrorism, has naturally stood as a convenient target to serve as
a conduit for the evil design of disarming the White House to be
bereft of a strong partner as a result of the, although in
consequential, the punitive measure through the implementation of
the instruments of the infamous and notorious HR 2003 Bill.
In
this awkward position the House of Representatives has
de-dignified itself by standing and upholding the stance akin with
the CUD, who have partnered themselves with the extreme elements
of the defunct Islamic Courts Union, the ONLF through its alliance
for Freedom and Democracy (AFD) grab and the failed state of
Eritrea.
The
other covert design of some members of the Congress is their
ill-conceived plan to portray the ONLF, as a group that has been
unfairly treated by the Ethiopian government. In fact, Congressman
Payne, presented the ONLF as a group which seeks dialogue and
peace by conveniently forgetting, the atrocities and terrorist
measures it undertook by its cold-blooded massacre of 77 unarmed
and civilian Chinese and Ethiopian workers in an oil prospecting
job in the Ogaden, in the not too distant past.
Make
no mistake that the ONLF issue is deliberately being ballooned by
the axis of evil of CUD, Mr. Donald Payne and the Eritrean regime,
because of the China factor, which has been unnerving the US, by
challenging its hegemony and monolithic global power, through its
principled and critical support to pivotal states like, Ethiopia,
Nigeria and the Sudan in their quest for strategic fuel products
as one of their modus operandi, in the fore ward march at
extricating themselves from the grinding poverty that currently
pervades them .
The
few US congressmen, and their CUD surrogates along with the
hate-fueled few extreme Diaspora elements’ only agenda is to
discredit the Ethiopian government, implant a Trojan horse
aspiring for power, sabotage the process of democratization, which
is in full gear; and institute unsavory condition to derail the
now too vouched and hailed economic and social success story that
Ethiopia is enjoying, by artificially forcing an enabling
environment for their cronies to ascend to power in the wake of
the political vacuum and void that they in vain envision and hope
to see.
Against
the backdrop of this saddening groping by the power thirsty CUD
leaders, the unsuspecting few congressmen and the power-mongering
extreme Diaspora elements under the tutelage of CUD and its
Orchestra, the only choice for the Ethiopian people and government
is to unhesitatingly, persistently and indelibly move fore ward
with deepening the democratization process through a multi-faceted
fashion, by denying the opposition even an iota of loophole where
they could inflame public sentiment by creating false hopes and
presenting hypocritical promises, by appealing to the emotions,
and sensitivities of the voters.
It
is noteworthy to punctuate at this juncture, that the last
election has taught a bitter lesson to the ruling party, the
EPRDF, the opposition and indeed the whole people that nothing can
remain, business as usual.
In
today’s Ethiopia, there is no turning back, as democratization
and good governance are there to stay not as an option but a
sine-qua-none; a necessity. Multi-party democracy is the order of
the day, and is no one’s good will. The strengthening of an
independent Judiciary, a free and responsible press both
Audio-visual and print, are not gifts to offer or deny, but
necessary bulwarks for an accountability, responsibility,
transparency and responsiveness in the building of a democratic
system.
The
prevalence of due process, the rule of law, respect for individual
and group freedom and human rights true to the core principles
enshrined in the sacred document, the Ethiopian Constitution, and
other relevant international covenants, is not something to
withhold or deliver, on the whims and wishes of any body, but is
the bounden and inalienable right of the Citizenry.
The
fight against disease, mal-nutrition, illiteracy, poverty and
wont, is not something to be done on a free-lance basis, but a
fundamental pre-requisite to attain the goal of freedom, liberty,
equality, harmony, peace and development of the society, and hence
is a huge task to undertake none-stop 24/7, day in day out on a
sustainable and continuous manner.
The
right of the electorate is not a commodity to trade, barter off or
negotiate with, but an epicenter and quintessential right to elect
its leaders and hold them accountable and answerable to the
ultimate power of the people.
Suffice
it’s to state that, no power on earth can stand on the arduous
path and task of the determined commitment of the Ethiopian
people, to build a prosperous and democratic Nation. Ethiopia
should continue to play its central role as a regional power, and
as a pioneer in African Affairs and as a respected nation on the
international arena.
As
to the few and vocal Diaspora elements of Ethiopian origin, it is
appropriate to note that we can not decide the fate of the over 80
million Ethiopians, no matter how gross self-illusion has hovered
on us, or how ever much we have assigned self- importance,
self-indulgence and self aggrandizement to our selves.
Shine
or rain, it is the Ethiopian people who determine their future and
destiny. If we fathom our march with the historic transformation
that is underway in Ethiopia, we shall all benefit, but if we
chose to act as a barrier on this long and chequered journey, we
shall certainly not even put a drop of mark in this fast paced and
decisively resilient move fore ward.
Back
to the HR 2003 piece of legislation. I sincerely believe that
sanity will prevail in the Senate, with an inquisitive quest for
the truth that would listen to the voice of the Ethiopian people
who are on the march for democracy, and socio-economic
development, not only to once and for all change the bleak facade
of an impoverished nation with a famished people, but also to
enlist our nation of an ancient and proud history and put it in
the ranks of respected middle income-countries in the
not-too-distant future.
To
sum up, I am hoping that if the Bill visits the president’s
table, the Republican President, Mr. Bush, shall use his Executive
Prerogative and Veto it, allowing the present environment of
Jovial Ethio-American partnership to further blossom and count on
our nation as an unflinching ally on the war against global
terrorism. The bottom line is, Ethiopia is a sovereign nation
whose suzerainty cannot be tempered with. It has stood the test of
time for millennia on end, proudly defying and strongly defending
and jealously protecting its cherished independence and freedom
from outside interference, intervention or encroachment. Hence it
shall never allow and succumb to the dictates of any foreign power
of any hue and color. History has attested to this unwavering
stand of Ethiopia loud and clear. Ethiopia’s sovereign existence
come hail from the skies or storm from the high seas, has been
amply corroborated by practice.
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