Zenawi’s Regime has Closed all Doors to Peace & Democracy

1 June 2010
(Press Release)

Ethiopia is a nation that has a remarkable civilization and more than three millennium of historical continuity. However, a good part of its long history is marred by instability, poverty, and power struggle between regional lords. Throughout its 3000 plus years of history, Ethiopia has never gone through a peaceful transfer of power. In fact, the action of PM Meles Zenawi, in the May 15 election was a reaffirmation of the historical account of power transfer in Ethiopia where the winner of the power struggle coerces the losers to totally submit, or to ‘get out of the way’. This kind of “my way or the highway” attitude of the Ethiopian ruling elites has made Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa one of the most volatile regions of the world.

Like his predecessors and many dictators in Africa, the current dictator of Ethiopia came to power through the barrel of a gun. Hence, he has no tolerance for dissent and his appetite for democracy is anorexic. In his 19 years in power, Zenawi has held three sham elections; and in May 2010; he concluded his fourth election, which is dubbed as one of the most lopsided election in one of the most diverse countries of Africa [Ethiopia]. By sweeping 545 seats in the country’s 547-seat parliament, Meles Zenawi has sent a clear message to his opponents that the peaceful way of challenging his power has run out. All in all, Meles Zenawi’s behavior before, during, and after the 2010 election has proven beyond any shadow of a doubt, that as long as he is alive, elections in Ethiopia are mere mechanisms through which only the TPLF autocrats creep to power.

Ever since Zenawi came to power, the EU and the US have channeled huge financial packages to Ethiopia making it the largest aid recipient in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the mean time, PM Meles Zenawi, the man who vowed to build multi-party democracy in Ethiopia has, instead, turned Ethiopia into a one party state where political dissent is tantamount to committing suicide. The EU and US have continued to trust Meles as a force of stability and as an ally on the war against terror. Sadly, Meles Zenawi has abused this trust to stifle dissent and build a Stalinist one party state. As a result, today, one ethnic group, one party, and one person dominate every aspect of political life in Ethiopia.

In the last 15 years, especially, after the 2005 election, the Ethiopian opposition has countered the stability argument of the West by clearly stating that, the absence of freedom and democracy in Ethiopia will aggravate frustrated Ethiopians to resort to violence than submit to a tyrant. However, the West neglected this argument and consciously fell into Zenawi’s “stability” over “democracy” trap at the cost of freedom and justice in Ethiopia. We believe the international community has learned valuable lessons from tiny Somalia, where lack of peace and stability has negatively impacted world peace. Unlike Somalia, Ethiopia is a large country with over 80 million people of diverse religious, linguistic, and ethnic cleavages.

The US and UK have trusted the Ethiopian dictator as the only force who can stabilize the Horn of Africa and contain the rise of Islamic extremism in the region. But, this unmerited trust has encouraged Meles Zenawi to crack down on political dissidents, block Internet sites, and jam radio stations including the VOA and Deutsche Welle. It must clearly be understood that without granting freedom and equality to Ethiopians at home, PM Meles Zenawi cannot hold Ethiopia together, let alone ensure peace and stability in the greater Horn region.

For the last 19 years, the Ethiopian opposition has been abused, persecuted, killed, and has systematically been alienated from the political process. However, in spite of the abuse and the crime committed against them, opposition parties have given peace a chance and patiently displayed their determination to build democracy in Ethiopia. In May 2005, their perseverance paid-off, and the opposition defeated the EPRDF in Addis Ababa and many parts of the country. However, Meles Zenawi responded by killing 200 innocent demonstrators, arresting tens of thousands of political dissidents and jailing the entire opposition leadership.

Even after the despicable crimes of Zenawi’s regime, the opposition gave peace another chance and continued its peaceful struggle. However, Zenawi’s regime took the patience of the opposition as a weakness and used the state machinery to make sure that future election outcomes favor only the ruling party. In the 2010 election, Zenawi’s regime displayed its utter intolerance to multi-party politics by snatching all parliamentary seats in all regions of the country. By doing this, Meles Zenawi has closed the last open door for peace and democracy and took Ethiopia back to the past “submit or rebel” era of the princes.

After 20 years of hard work and persistence, the opposition has no option left, except, to take the tyrant at his own words. The Ethiopian people are determined to do whatever it takes to be free, not because Zenawi said – submit or rebel; but we, as a people, and as a nation, understand that fighting for freedom and liberty is our inalienable right. We hope all freedom and peace loving people of the world will stand in solidarity with the Ethiopian people in their march towards freedom.