Ethiopian Review Editorial
It is not a secret that the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF) is waging an all out attack against the Alliance for Freedom and Democracy (AFD), a coalition of EPPF, Kinijit, OLF, ONLF and SLF. UEDF had participated in the conference in the Netherlands when the agreement was made to form the AFD. But its representatives failed to sign the memorandum of understanding that created the alliance asking a one-month period to think about it. The one-month has come and gone, but UEDF is more determined than ever about not only rejecting the AFD, but also vigorously fighting to destroy it.
At first, UEDF was citing procedural matters for its unwillingness to be part of the AFD. When that argument didn’t get any traction, they come up with the following arguments:
1. The Alliance doesn’t protect the sovereignty of Ethiopia.
2. It doesn’t have “Ethiopia” in its name.
3. AFD’s memorandum of understanding accepts the existing constitution.
4. It was formed under the auspices of the Issayas Afeworki regime.
UEDF is being criticized by many that the real reason it is opposing the Alliance is because it is not leading it. ER doesn’t want to question the motives of UEDF leaders. But the arguments they presented against the AFD so far have not been persuasive enough. UEDF was in fact working hard to help create a similar alliance that would have involved all the parties that are now members of the AFD. Some of UEDF’s member organizations themselves accept the existing constitution, including the Article 39 that allows ethnic groups to secede from Ethiopia.
What prompted ER to write this commentary is UEDF’s recent statement that condemns that the desecration of the Ethiopian flag in Asmera after a video surfaced in the Internet that shows the flag was being stomped on at a recent event. A lot of people have pointed out that the video was doctored by TPLF agents, whose leader Meles Zenawi ridiculed our flag as a “piece of cloth” (cherq). The purpose of UEDF’s statement was to link the alleged incident with the AFD, and insinuate that AFD is an anti-Ethiopia coalition. We expect the UEDF leaders to be the last to be manipulated by a TPLF propaganda war. In their single-minded focus on discrediting AFD, and running out of persuasive arguments, they are falling into the TPLF trap.
As a political organization, UEDF must respect and abide by the desire of the people. Currently, what the people of Ethiopia desire is a united front of all opposition parties that can remove the Meles brutal dictatorship. The AFD is the only organized force that can back up its political and diplomatic efforts with a military force. For the past 15 years, the opposition camp did not have such a combination of united political and military force. We have it now. Unfortunately, UEDF is unintentionally providing aid to the Meles dictatorship by attacking this united force–the Alliance for Unity and Democracy.
ER once again is urging the UEDF leaders to reconsider their position and join the Alliance.
The pressure should not be on UEDF alone. ER has observed that OLF and Kinijit have not been accommodative to UEDF’s concerns. They have not even been willing to spend sufficient time to consider some of UEDF’s legitimate concerns. Hopefully, this will be corrected.