By Melaku Tegegne

Many Ethiopian politicians are describing the present national drive by the regime as signaling the beginning of the “Developmental State” in Ethiopia as prescribed by the Prime Minister a year ago. The politicians have expressed their fear that the era of dictatorship in Ethiopia will be elongated rather than culminated.

Their fear arose from the fact that all opposition parties were rendered inoperative by systematic harassment, intimidation, and harassment. This has been lucidly stated by leaders of opposition parties who were soft on the dictatorial regime of Meles Zenawi. The main opposition, the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party, the leaders of which were incarcerated nearly for two years, has also been rendered inoperative. This party which won the hearts and minds of the majority people of Ethiopia through its democratic and national unity programs as opposed to the parochial or ethnic-based backward programs of the tribalist regime has been severely oppressed and pushed out of the game. The much-hoped party has also faced internal division which also contributed to its further disintegration, present-day politics in Ethiopia doesn’t offer hope or optimism. As in the Derge era the county is sliding back to authoritarian system. In this piece of writing an attempt is made to scan some elections made in some continents vis-à-vis the Ethiopian local elections still underway.

As many national elections were held in many countries of the world, the year 2008 can be dubbed as a year of elections. There was an election in Russia, but President Putin made a slight change in the hierarchy by simply transferring himself from the presidency to the position of the premiership. In this election the opposition was defeated by overt and covert means employed by the government to make them out of the political game.

In a similar vein, a parliamentary election was held in Iran, the now most feared country by the West for its nuclear proliferation program and its strong support to radical Muslims. Again opposition candidates were technically barred from being elected because of their liberal views on radical Islam. As a result, the incumbent president was proclaimed to be the winner thereby closing the door against the opposition party.

In the USA, fierce competition is underway especially between senators Clinton and Obama to become the next president. There will be a winner among the three American presidential contenders after few months but that wouldn’t be through foul means as in the other countries where there is no democracy and rule of law.

When we turn our attention to Africa, in May 2005, in Ethiopia, a national election was held across the country and was described as the best of its kind in the political history of the country. This was because it involved opposition parties, local and international observers. However, the much touted historic election ultimately turned out to be a fiasco when the regime stole the election result, and subsequently committed unparalleled brutality on demonstrators who opposed the rigging of the election. To date, 193 peaceful demonstrators have been gunned down by the snipers of the regime in the streets of Addis Ababa. These victims paid the highest sacrifice for freedom and democratic rights of the people of Ethiopia. As if that were not enough, more than 50,000 supporters of the main opposition party have been incarcerated by the regime in different concentration camps in the countryside. A European journalist described this gross violation of human rights as unparalleled since the end of Apartheid era in South Africa. Dozens of opposition party leaders and private newspaper journalists were imprisoned for nearly two years under trumped up high treason charges. It is an unfortunate fact of life that the judiciary and Election Board are not neutral in Ethiopia.

According to a recent interview of an opposition leader who was released a few months ago from prison, there are still many political prisoners awaiting verdicts by the kangaroo court of the tribalist regime. I shall come later to the issue of election in Ethiopia, but now let me turn your attention to the other recently held elections in Africa where similar situations occurred.

In Africa, recently elections were held in Nigeria, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. Although General Obasanjo did not want to relinquish power, the parliament of the country, however, resolved the problem by denying the General to satisfy his insatiable interest for power. Hence, the election in Nigeria, one of the advanced countries in Africa, was concluded with a peaceful transition.

But in Kenya, a country considered for a long time by the West to be a bearer of democracy in Africa, the election result turned out to be bloody. More than 1,500 people have died and many thousands have been displaced from their residential areas.

Thanks to Mr. Koffi Anan, however, the problem seems to be over. By the way, Mr. Koffi Anan didn’t make a similar negotiation effort to solve the election crisis in Ethiopia at a time when he was Secretary General of the UN. Mr. Koffi Anan was at the economic commission for Africa in Ethiopia before he became Secretary General of the UN. He is very familiar with the residents of Addis Ababa, but unfortunately he didn’t extend help to solve one of their greatest problems. As if adding fuel to the fire, Mr. Koffi Annan ignored the request of Ethiopian-Americans to mediate between the government and the opposition party.

The election crisis in Zimbabwe is unprecedented in the history of present-day Africa. President Mugabe, the founding father of the nation who led the protracted struggle against British colonial rule, is at his peak period in his life (84 years old) for retirement. He ruled the country for twenty eight years which is a very long period by any measure of public service. So what does he want? To be a cause of public unrest, bloodshed, social and economic disaster like the one that occurred in Kenya a few months ago?

Turning attention to the local counties election in Ethiopia the first of which was held on April 13 and the next on April 20, 2008, they are simply orchestrated dramas made by the regime to continue holding onto power by all means possible. The regime is still in shock which it had received as a result of the absolute and determined vote made by the residents of Addis Ababa and other urban areas against the regime two years ago during the national election. According to some political analysts, the shock experienced by the regime began to be felt earlier before the election ballot when the residents of Addis Ababa had shown a strong support to opposition parties in a huge rally at the biggest square in Addis Ababa. That was a water shade in the political history of the country regarding the will to establish a democratic system as opposed to a dictatorship exercised by the regime.

This situation, among others, was the one which led the regime to brutally murder the residents of Addis Ababa, who, for the first time since the downfall of the communist system which reigned for seventeen years, have shown strong struggle in defense of their freedoms and political rights. The regime, instead of turning its attention to a peaceful and normal political activity, has continued its roller coaster move and the overall situation in the country has receded. It is in this gloomy situation, a dark period in the political history of the country, now the drama of the local elections are being held. All opposition parties, which had even tried to be loyal to the regime, have boycotted the election describing the nefarious intimidation activities by the regime. Hence, the election underway, conducted under a single party, signals the emergence of the well-calculated plan by the regime to strengthen dictatorship under the name “Developmental State” described by some scholars as crap.

In my lifetime, I saw such orchestration during the brutal military regime of Mengistu. One time, there were only single candidates, and the people of Addis Ababa were forced to endorse the election drama. This kind of election, both the past and the present, should have been termed not an election but an indirect appointment by the regimes.

In such situations, in the countries mentioned earlier such as Russia, Iran, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia, to name just a few, what is the role of the international community, the advanced democratic countries? Can they help out in redressing the imbalance? It is unlikely.

The defence of human rights during the past few years seems to be lukewarm. All the democratic countries are not vocal in their defense against violations of human rights these days. For them, business first, has become the order of the day. They are also facing stiff resistance by the economic giants such as China and other Asian countries. In the past few years, these countries which are oppressive and anti-democratic in both their behaviour and practice, began to defy the voice of democratic countries. As a result, many democratic countries are now turning their strategies from confrontation to a constructive engagement. This is especially true for China, a country known for its continual gross violations of human rights. The current crackdown on Tibetan people by Chinese rulers is a case in point.

In fact, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and my home land, Ethiopia, are weaker in terms of economies. They are poor countries.

Zimbabwe had a glorious past; Kenya has been known for its strong economy and political system, a model in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia has been known for its dependence on the West, especially the USA. Therefore, if western countries have the will or the desire to defend democratic rights, they can put pressure on the government of Ethiopia to bring change. They can withhold financial assistance, put on trade embargos, and curtail cultural exchanges such as sports events.

The one point which is often mentioned in the case of Ethiopia vis avis its relation with the West, especially the US, is strong alliance against radical Muslims. I am not against the alliance. As I stated earlier, in one of my articles, Ethiopia has always been in alliance with the West, both during the Second World War and the Cold War period. There is nothing new with the alliance. But the question is, can’t the USA, the champion, the arch-bearer of democratic rights, make the regime of Meles Zenawi understand and make at least a political and economic reform necessary for the day. The same can be said of the European Union. It seems that policy makers of the US and EU know that both Meles Zenawi and his party, the so called Revolutionary Democratic Front, are not indispensable. They have seen with their own eyes that the opposition parties which have many scholars, many of whom had undergone their education in different universities in the USA, can be alternatives.

So why can’t fighting against radical Muslims and support for democracy go together? Are they anti-thesis to each other? There shouldn’t be a dilemma on this issue which concerns the lives of the seventy million Ethiopians. If the current and the coming US administrations can’t resolve the chronic crisis of democratic rights in Ethiopia, they will lose the friendship of the people of Ethiopia.
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The author can be reached at [email protected]. Visit his blog, Issues in Focus