By Elias Kifle
The poll conducted by Ethiopian Review during the past 7 days indicates that most Ethiopians would choose, by a wide margin, Dr Berhanu Nega of Ginbot 7 to be the next president of Ethiopia if a free and fair election is held in Ethiopia today and there is a presidential instead of the current fake parliamentary system of governance.
The 16 candidates in the poll were selected from over 180 suggestions that were made by readers. It is a not scientific poll, but the result is useful in analyzing the state of Ethiopian politics. It also helps to expose the illegitimate nature of the election that is scheduled to be held in Ethiopia next May. If a free election is held in Ethiopia, the outcome would be different. However, as things stand now, the outcome of the May 2010 elections is a forgone conclusion.
Participation in Ethiopian Review’s poll has been greater than we expected. Over 3,000 votes were cast in 3 days. That is almost half of the 7,000 unique visitors who accessed the page, which has been visited over 200,000 times. In about 30 days we will conduct another poll to see if there is any change.
As the front runner, Dr Berhanu Nega has a bigger burden of leadership. He needs to take some bold measures and get concrete results before the May 2010 elections in Ethiopia. Otherwise, his lead will evaporate over night. What we mean by result is clear: The removal of Woyanne. Any thing short of that, such as power sharing with Woyanne, will be considered betrayal or surrender.
Unlike Kinijit, this time we have two alternative forces. In case Ginbot 7 falters or betrays us, there is EPPF, which is emerging as a powerful organization. After Hailu Shawel, we should not completely trust any one. Those of us who wish to see Woyanne replaced by democratic and unity forces need to support both these organizations.