Kinijit North America Press Release
The “Unity for Democracy & Justice Party (UDJ)” held a historic meeting on July 6, 2008, at the Marriott Hotel in Washington DC. The meeting, organized by Kinijit North America Association of Support Organizations (KNAASO), in collaboration with Kinijit DC Metro Support Chapter was attended to full capacity.
When a name like Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, an internationally renowned Human Rights leader, democracy activist, author and arguably the most celebrated Ethiopian academic, appears on the roaster of panelists, it is bound to generate enormous interest. The second panelist, Ato Asrat Tasse, is Secretary General of UDJ and a respected academician in his own right. Their visit to the US and particularly to the DC-Metro area, which houses the largest Ethiopian community outside of Ethiopia, is significant in more ways than one.
The panelists made an elaborate analysis of the pre and post 2005 election environment in Ethiopia. They made no attempt at covering up mistakes made by Kinijit’s leadership, which is the predecessor of UDJ.
Ato Asrat Tasse, Secretary General of UDJ, presented a candid portrayal of Kinijit’s shortcomings that led to its fracture soon after the leadership was released from prison. He highlighted lack of political integration and the tendency of some leaders who brought their personal ambitions before the interest of the party.
Professor Mesfin, in his trademark forthright way, pointed out that the fight within our own persons must be guided by fact and reason rather than by emotion. He said that politics which is fueled by hatred, grudge, and the desire for revenge will feed the cycle tyranny and deny our people their right for democracy and stable life. “This ugly state of mind”, he warned, “is not an exclusive domain of the ruling party but regrettably present even in some quarters of the opposition.” He reminded the audience that no matter how stark their political differences, Ethiopian parties shall refrain from looking at each other as “enemies” but rather as political contenders with differing viewpoints. “The opposition”, he added, “should guard itself from demagogues who never hesitate to exploit the tender emotion of the human mind to rally support and propel to power. Typically, they do it a good distance away from the bullet and the hardship”, he added.
Peaceful struggle covered a good part of the panelists’ speech and an equally good part of the question and answer session. Both panelists stated that peaceful struggle was, is and will remain the Kinijit/Andnet way. UDJ will intensify its struggle knowing fully well that the political space opened during the 2005 election was never courtesy of EPRDF but one induced by the combined pressure of our people, political parties, the press and the international community. “We are confident the political conditions that prevailed then and forced EPRDF to open up are still around albeit in a more pronounced manner”.
“On the other hand”, they concluded, “contemporary history, the prevailing geo-political landscape, the objective and subjective realities in our country do not point to armed struggle as being a viable option let alone guaranteeing transfer of power to the people”.
Both Professor Mesfin and Ato Asrat Tasse reiterated their own commitments and the commitment of the entire UDJ leadership to bring systemic change to the country. They reaffirmed that despite repeated natural and manmade hardships our people were subjected to and despite the repressive practices of EPRDF, the future for Ethiopia and Ethiopians is indeed bright if we choose to work with resolve, warm hearts and minds.
The delegation is scheduled to make several stops within the USA before it heads back home.
15 thoughts on “UDJ officials hold public meeting in DC – Press Release”
Thank you Professor Mesfin and Ato Tasse for your sterling performance.
Peaceful change is one mighty weapon that scares the tyrant Meles to death. The victory of 15 May 2005 and the sufferings of democrats in its aftermath are now indelibly written in our history. UDJP is a beacon of hope and I believe the voice of the Ethiopian people shall be respected.
God bless UDJP, its entire leadership, members, and supporters.
As much as I respect the idea of peaceful strugle, it is not going to work within the current ethiopian context. As it will only buy TPLF mad dogs time and collect more money from their western pay masters. This is the very man who accused ppl who were raising concern about the land give in Gondor. What next, should we wait in the name of peaceful struggle until we are left with no land at all. Time and time again TPLF has shown to the ppl of Ethiopia their hate and that they see ethiopia as their private property but nothing els.
I call on all Ethiopians to provide arm fighters their patrioric and financial support.
God save ethiopia.
An untiring man with a great vision for Ethiopia. Long live Prof Mesfin, a true patriot of the Ethiopian people.
brtukan announced to participate the in 2010 election without any preconditions. That is a shame. ! she completely ignored the 8 peconditions set by the ethiopian people ! I have no doubt she is working by order of weyane. she accepts anything they tell her to do.
The key words uttered by our esteemed professor- HATRED,GRUDGE,REVENGE-are the whole marks of the political policy of the unabashed dictator, Meles Zenawi, who often spinns around the concocted special terms-Neftegna, Timkhitegna, narrow nationalist in the case of OLF members.What we have seen from the past 17 years of his rule was a systemized propaganda and hatred incitment particularly against the Amharas by the same murderer.Had the people of Ethiopia been driven by the gulibble propaganda of the separetist and genocidal Meles Zenawi,the Rwandan genocide crime would have been repeated in Ethiopia.What the racist guerilla leader forgot, however, was that the people of Ethiopia are interwoven by blood,intermarriage, economic and social relations.
With regard to the armed struggle, the the position taken by the UDJ leadership is conciliatory.What is the contemporary history? fighting against Terrorism? We are not opposed the fighting against Terrorism waged by the US and Nato .Even Ethiopia can join the rank under the leadership of a popularly elected and democratic leader, but not under Mr Zenawi, a brutal dictator.We should be frank and bold enough to tell the truth the foreign policy makers of both the US and EU member countries.We should be able to say we don’t want Meles Zenawi because he is the cause of all of our misery.We shouldn’t also wait Western countries to to the job- a change of Zenawi’s regime by due process, not through the otherway.
Well done Elias.
You have done a good job by reporting objectively and refraining to spin the story from your personal point of view.
Remain that way, and your ‘activism’ or ‘political journalism’ (whichever one it is you’re trying to do ), will earn you the respect you are craving for and surely one that you haven’t so far succeeded in getting.
I congratulate you this time and hope to see you keeping it this way in future
Joke of the Day!!
“…… Typically, they do it a good distance away from the bullet and the hardship”, he added.
At the 11th hour our well most celebrated Ethiopian academic showed his true color. Prof has one objection here in North America: It is not to give us hope that they are capable of changing the government but it is intentionaly dispatched from TPLF in Addis to cause uncertainty and fear about the arm struggle. In the time where every hope is closed and TPLF rigged 99% of local election the good prof has no sound plan for Ethiopian except to oppose those who need change by any means necessary. Let me ask you a question Prof.
In 2005 over 200 people get killed defending their human right and all the opposers including you went to jail. Since then we have seen famine, genocide, Somalia invasion, Sudan secret land deal… and basically, we hate TPLF. In 2010 election, how is this going to work prof? Is TPLF going to win or lose and give up power graciously.Are going to join the arm struggle if they refuse step down prof? For the last 17 years the Ethiopian people is extremely patint and passive due to out side influence, UK and US. There is a limit what a people can take. Patience and forgiveness are our character as Ethiopians, but this has gone too far. These are animals who do not understand the magnitude of pain they are inflicting on us. To remind you, TPLf picked up their gun and fought againest Derge because of injustice perpetrated on their people but TPLF had caused worse damage to Ethiopian people than any government. No one used ethnic division as instrument to rule except those inhuman cololonizers of Europe. This is far more sinister than Mengistu and Janhoy did to the people of Tigray.
Do you know the Ethiopian story about two shepherds got lost and decided to crush in the bush until day break. At the middle of the night one of them hears the crackling sound and asks his coward friend what he is hearing and the friend tells him to shut up and to go back to sleep by saying ” a Hayena is eating my leg”
Stop the stuggle start the fight. Time is not in our side. Go G7.
Regards,
(Don’t count on his testimony on Sudan Ethiopia border issue and please study what he said about that issue, this man is very dangerous and egomaniac)
Nothing new I think they just came to visit USA in summer with our left over money.
They didn’t do any significant thing after they return from their last visit.
They didn’t even officially oppossed woyane on the handover of Ethiopian land to Sudanese, so what do you expect them to do even they couldn’t talk their belief openly.
They are living on the fear of their ghost thinking every time that told by the woyane cadre while they were in the prison. Everyday they live in that fear so do you think this guys do anything to ethiopia … I do no yours but me I saw them almost a year nothing done and we will see them again for the coming years believe me they may show us the same theatre like Lidetu ( Did I say Lidetu sorry I mean Kehdettu!).
Please tell them that getting name do nothing, you guys killing the appettitte of millions of ethiopians for change … you to more than couple of years just to come back on the stage and the worst thing is you didn’t tell us you to make ethiopia a better place instead after all these years you came to stage just to tell us you are still alive … that is nothing for ethiopians yours physical existance. I will say it ” just physical existance”
It won’t be only woyane, who should be asked the problem of ethiopia but you should be also responsible that we, ethiopians gave you upto our life under the kinijit leadership and still we are ready to do so but we couldn’t get leader who is nationalist , who think for ethiopia, who is unaffraid for being arrested or intemidated.
Sorry I do no what to say more than that but again one thing is clear Ethiopians still ready, looking and needing the loeadership that make them free. Up to now nothing!!!
Wa! It appears that ER has destorted the report previously.
I do not see any problem with the professor! Rather I see in him a pragmatic view of the political situation of our country. He did not call on Eritrea to liberate Ethiopia from the gangesters who call themselves TPLF. Change the name to TPSF (Tigray Peoples Slavery Front)
God bless UDJ!
That is great! We don’t expect from UDJP to call for armed struggle.
Well like Mezgebe i don’t see any problem. Professor Mesfen have been telling us there are people who are dieing to get on Meleses chair otherwise they don’t care about the country or the people of Ethiopia.
I totaly agree with comments 8 and 9 above. The Good Old Proffessor is telling us to love thy enemy. The Good Old Proffessor is saying if, your enemy hit your right face, turn your left so that he can get more of you. One thing he forget is that, Love thy enemy is for heavenly kingdom. We are seeking/looking for Meles’s kingdom. Not more or less than that. I thought the Good Old Proffessor knows Geez. In Geez, we say, “eyyenetseh dem the enbele dem keyih”, which means blood can not be cleaned without blood”, We are cleaned by the blood of Christ. Christ died for our independence. Some one has to die for our Ethiopians freedom. May not be the Good OLd Proffessor, May be not me, but my fellow Ethiopians are dieng everyday. Woyane knows that. There is no way, that, Melese can give his kinkdom with peaceful means. “Tinchel ye berie kolet yiwedkilgnal bila stketel walch, yibala”. Now the professor tell us to wait. we had 17 year of peaceful resistance. We will see what is the Almighty’s adjenda.
Another thing, Why Change the name, what is UDJ? Is it, You Dammy Jump? did’nt they heard that, the Ethiopian saying, that “gulcha bikeyayeru wot ayatafttm” Changing the name is not going to do any thing good, except work for Woyane propaganda. Hey, The Good Old Proffessor knows how to live, how to servive, and knows how to talk too. I heard him saying before, that the Solders of Dergu were “ye embauy kimer” So what is new about him, we heard that before, “…. ena geleba eyader yikelal” Please do not make me speak in many qoaloqual languages, which make me one of the ethinisist, chovenist, neftegna-amhara.
I sometimes feel these Capitalist and Imperialist leaders have some lukeys, who can lecture and sell good their distructive and disruptive ways of Africa, especially, Ethiopia. They do not like us to develop and become self-sufficient indipendent country. Oh! my goodness how they get good professors and intellecuals to sell their propaganda and burry our lives. Is there God somewhere? God, do you see what is happening to our country Ethiopia? So much I can say, let me stop. Please do not put fear in our minds and in the minds of all Patriotic Ethiopians who are waging struggle everyday in every where in every corner of Ethiopia and in every corner of the Glove.
Professor Mesfin has betrayed the Ethiopian people yet once again. In the last days of Haile Selassie when he collaborated with Berkete Habte Selassie, in the last days of Dergue, when he denied the existence of Amharas and now the last days of Woyane as he maneuver to kill Kinijit unless it was subservient to his scheme. The Whole Kestedamena adventure was to dismantle the militant wing of Kinijit led by Hailu Shawl and replace it by a subservient one led by Mesfin W.M/Birtukan Medkesa. Now this appears to be achieved for the moment. However, it will crumble since the fundamental aspiration of the Ethiopian people will not be address by the coalition of Meles Zenawi’s EPRDF and Mesfin Woldemariam’s Andenet. Just wait and see! Mesfin and company will soon be fishes out of water! ER analysis of Prof. Mesfin intentions seems to be to the point.
I highly respect the two estimated panelists and their sacrifices to bring about democratic governance to our country. However, their support for peaceful struggle to remove TPLF/Woyane’s dictatorial regime is both ineffective and irrelevant to bring the desired results. Ethiopians from every wake of life and very many opposition parties have tried peaceful means to engage with TPLF/Woyane and bring about basic democratic change for the last seventeen years. Unfortunately, the government is unwilling to learn from its mistakes, respect the people’s rights, open up the political space, and involve in peaceful political discourse. To the contrary it continues and in most cases increasing its intimidation, imprisonment, torture, terror, rape, and treachery of the people and the country. It has increasingly and more aggressively displayed its hatred for Ethiopia and Ethiopians. At this point UDJ or any other party may not be able to force, encourage, and conjole TPLF/Woyane to implement the rule of law and democratic governance. TPLF/Woyane do not have the need for or incentive to engage in peaceful political discourse with the opposition. Peaceful political struggle with TPLF in the current political environment is both naivity and buying time for TPLF. Peaceful political struggle with TPLF/Woyanes will only help TPLF to implement its destructive agenda of destroying our country and people.