By Messay Kebede
In the final analysis, the difference between the Derg and the Woyanne regime in terms of repression and exclusiveness is becoming blurred by the day since the 2005 election. In a previous article, I indicated that the toughening of repression is part of a political strategy associated with the “implementation” of an authoritarian development model, to wit, the developmental state. The strategy is to weaken the opposition to the point of making it irrelevant by removing its influence on the masses, which influence essentially originates from economic plight. A non-participatory regime that provides bread and butter for the masses is not only assured of a long rule, but can even legitimize its political hegemony by electoral victories.
The trouble with an authoritarian model of development is that it needs time to effect tangible economic improvements. And time is what the Woyanne regime does not have so long as a {www:vociferous} opposition denigrates its “achievements.” The strategy of the developmental state needs time and time becomes available only when the opposition is silenced. This explains why journalists are the main target of repression: their criticisms deprive the regime of the silence it needs to advertise its “achievements” to the masses. A critical press is utterly damaging for a regime that derives economic progress from above and makes it dependent on the postponement of {www:gratification}.
Things would have been much easier if the silencing of opposition could use {www:lethal} repression. The bloody repression of the Derg was fashionable in the context of the Cold War and the ideology of class struggle prescribing violence as the decisive expression of the commitment to the interests of the masses. The collapses of the Soviet camp and of the ideology of class struggle and the subsequent acceptance of multipartism have robbed deadly repression of its entitlement as the midwife of history. This altered context, and that alone, explains why the Woyanne regime hesitates to be as brutal as the Derg.
What this means is that is that the difference between the two regimes since the 2005 election is more a difference in style than substance. The goal remains the same: the control of absolute power through the repression of the opposition. Only the Woyanne regime has replaced {www:sheer} brutality with a judicial {www:masquerade}, thereby covering repression with the appearance of legality. Instead of silencing the opposition through the threat of violent death, the Woyanne regime has opted for a form of repression whose essential task is to break and humiliate targeted people.
There is an inherent reason for the choice of this form of repression. Together with the international dislike of repressive regimes, the changed context of multipartism leaves little room for the sheer physical elimination of opponents. You cannot claim to be an advocate of multipartism while physically eliminating the leaders of opposition parties. By contrast, you can bring them to court and make them face charges that range from terrorism to constitutional violations. All you need is a {www:docile} court system. More exactly, the quelling of dissidents occurs prior to the judicial masquerade; it takes place in the inhuman condition of detention where deprivations, torture, and all forms of humiliation are widely practiced. By the time the accused reach the court, they are already in pieces, wreckages of what they used to be. The court is thus not so much where you defend your rights as where you {www:implore} for mercy.
The whole purpose of breaking targeted individuals is to divest the social movement for change of trusted and galvanizing leaders, the outcome of which is none other than a crippled opposition. What else does the context of a leaderless protest guarantee but the continuous prevalence of the Woyanne regime, even in electoral contests? When leaders give in to intimidation and mistreatment, not only are they diminished in the eyes of followers and the masses, but they also seem to {www:recant} their political commitments, and so nullify the very existence of opposition.
What follows from this is the need to adjust the struggle to the repressive style. What Ethiopia’s social protest needs above all is the rise of leaders whose main characteristic is the refusal to yield. Indomitability alone can shatter the system by its inspirational impact on the social protest. The latter craves not so much for convincing or sophisticated ideological visions or political programs as for the exemplary behavior of leaders who withstand the scheme of {www:debasement}. What the Ethiopian {www:renaissance} awaits is not a dam on the Nile; it is heroism.
(The writer can be reached at [email protected])
11 thoughts on “Derg vs. Woyanne – same goal, different style”
This is your best article so far, Dr. Mesay.
A+.
This is the only article i agree with Dr messay.
Thank you Dr. Messay Kebede,
for this great assessment of Ethiopian events. These facts that you highlighted might have been rehearsed in different forums. For instance, the TPLF’s method to extract information through confession, intimidation of opposition and or an attempt to break the fighting spirit of opponents etc have been all discussed before.However,what gives your piece potency you find the key to the put the different concepts to give coherence by comparing TPLF vs. erg authoritarianism. This brings me to say this in retrospective, from the get go, those Ethiopians who have insisted ,perhaps due to their peculiar familiarity with the latter, to face TPLF through the armed struggle have always been right.
After all historically, Ethiopia has always been rescued from her enemies and adversaries not so much by Academicians and professors, as it is seen now, but by ordinary Ethiopians who boldly come to the fore to assume the mantle of leadership at a time of national crisis. One example of this event is during the Italian resistance war. It was the courage of regional leaders such as belay Zeleke, Amoraw Webineh,Belay Zeleke,Balcha Safu,Jagama Kello ,and the Patriarch and Spiritual father of the nation Abuna Petros and others that I don’t have the list at the present delivered such leadership.
These are our immortal heroes, one generation precedes another, but our heroes are immortal and they live in the minds of Millions of Ethiopians. I whole heartedly agree with your assessment that we need heroes that will not break. We need people who want to be martyrs so that Ethiopia can be lifted from the ashes to her historical place. We need self fewer heroes such as Birtukan, and Andualem.Though I have the highest respect for some of our intellectuals I am of the opinion the learned among us seems to me ill equipped for such level commitment the leadership position requires. Thank you again.
what can be said concerning woyanne’s realising of the former derg dictatorship criminals who used ordering innocent souls of mass killing like the unfortunate 2005 election? Is the good prof. Messy referring such as this matter when he compares woyanne & derg as one of the same coin? Just curious.
Ato Messay
Are you sure both Derg and TPLF have the same goal for Ethiopia ???? I respectfully disagree ,While Derg was dismembering Ethiopians TPLF is dismembering both Ethiopians and Ethiopia it self
<> really?? how about both!
comparing the TPLF with the “Ethiopia-wey-mot” Derg is not fair. Meles is an agent of the corporate west and mengitu was fanatic Nationalist. Mengistu try to build factories and industries, while Meles is building high rises and farm land for sale. Mengistu visions Ethiopia while Meles visions the west. Meles talk, walk, look, and dress like an agent of the western mafia. Menge’ is different.
The contemporary rock & pop musician, Prince, once said that he does not give a damn what the critics say about his music because they are out to impress fellow writers not the general public.
I find the abstract and scholarly writing such as the above on such an obvious and familiar tragedy, a little absurd and untimely. Because its all trash fixing; it does not take a scholar’s fine analysis to figure the differences and similarities of two wicked, evil and dark regimes. In contrast, if you read the review on Akglog Birara’s book on the Land Grab, you would find it hard-hitting, honest, revealing, genuine, timely and relevant. Political science is a thing of the past for most Ethiopians because it never materialized, yet, people are still enthralled and fascinated by it. Darkness and failure prevailed in Ethiopia because of the two groups, one sinister, the other gullible, who willingly embraced them. The sinister faction wanted to implement communism and socialism agenda with bloodbath in mind. The gullible ones coveted the west and its ever enticing phantom ways including a four-year election, democracy and freedom. Both foolish factions failed and Mengistu and Meles easily won. The question is what can we learn from all of what happened and still happening. How can a country go backwards hundreds of years? How could people be ruled by their inferiors and otherwise laughable rebel enemies? Why do curse-like scourges have a staying power? Prince was right: let us ignore the irrelevant, the ambiguous and the poisonous, and focus instead on what worked before. Our ancestors never worshiped America or any other country. They did well without political science; none of the foreign ideals, be it democracy or communism, appealed to them. Only the 21-century generation, which gave way to these foreign notions, lost. Let us follow the old way, the winners way.
As usual I really agree with u Dr. Nice article thanks a lot.
Yes both killed but DERG killed due to ideology but Woyane is killing due to ethnic hatred. DERG killed because he was confronted from the very beginning, but Woyane is killing just to show how they can and want to force the people to resist so that they prove that they are the only heroes.
DERG killed but tried to mainitain the territorial integrity of the country but failed because the war was not between DERG and Woyane but between Communism and Capitialism. Communism failed and those anti-Ethiopian forces including woyane/TPLF and EPLF succeeded to achieve their goal.
If we want to compare whether woyane kills less than DERG we have to wait until the give up power to make the comparison. Unlike DERG, Woyane/Meles is killing not only Ethiopians but also Ethiopia. I pray only to GOD to see the end of MELES/WOYANE and his DIABLOS/PAULOS
They are the same however,unlike the present govt the Militart govt didn’t try to divide the country like these thugs who has nothing good to the country except to loot Ethiopia out of its foundation.