Strategic Blunder of Historic Proportion

March 31, 2010
Statement

As dismayed as we are to hear the news of the EU’s decision to send a team of election observers to monitor the 2010 sham election in Ethiopia; we are also gratified by the unflappable courage and principled stand of Ms. Ana Gomes, who led the EU-EOM team to Ethiopia in 2005. We salute her commitment to democracy and social justice in Ethiopia and around the world.

From the vantage point of the overwhelming majority of Ethiopians and astute political observers, the upcoming election in Ethiopia is nothing more than window-dressing to maintain the status quo ( Meles’ iron fisted hold on power).

In a country where the TPLF regime sets the rules of the game for elections and continues to impose and enjoy exclusive political domination, it is ludicrous for the European Union, or, anybody else to presume that there will ever be free and fair elections in Ethiopia.

However, what the EU can count on is that the election will be rigged; opposition candidates will be harassed, intimidated, and will be mercilessly attacked by the regime’s security forces or its minions.

A rogue regime that openly threatens its opponents with post “election” imprisonment and flamboyantly declares to the world that it is jamming the quintessential voice of democracy [Voice of America]; has no credibility and legitimacy whatsoever, to hold a plausible election worth observing.

If the EU wants to play a role in this travesty of an election, even by African standards, so be it. However, for the record, we would urge the EU to reconsider its decision, since it will damage its credibility and compromise its moral authority to observe future elections. The Ethiopian election is already won and it will be tragic if the EU signs of on it with the usual platitudes.

Ginbot 7 would like to remind, once again, members of the European Union that the Ethiopian people have irreconcilable differences with the tyrannical regime of Meles Zenawi that has wreaked havoc on the country for 19 years. We will remain resolute in our commitment to “free our country” and will continue our struggle until a genuinely democratic Ethiopia rises from the ashes of tyranny.