A winning strategy

By Gizaw Legesse
August 3, 2006

"Amnesty International considers these defendants -- arrested in connection with demonstrations in November 2005 -- prisoners of conscience who have not used or advocated violence and calls on the Ethiopian government to release them immediately and unconditionally."

After the imprisonment of the elected leaders, Ethiopians have lived through a lot. It has been an emotional year. Many Ethiopians have attempted to show their solidarity with the leaders. This has been expressed in demonstrations, fund raising, rallies, lobbying and in any avenue that was available.

As an organization, CUD’s work after the imprisonment of the leaders is less than what is expected. The leadership vacuum was not filled, clear objectives were not developed, strategies were not identified, the diplomatic effort was spotty and spontaneous, organizational activity was none existent and outreach to the Ethiopian community negligible.

The primary reason for most of this deficit is the repression of the ruling party. EPRDF has increasingly relied on its security forces to achieve its political objectives. This is there for all to see.

However,the lack of success can not be explained away by the brutality of the government.

In fact CUD’s failure to overcome this – government brutality- and other constraints should prompt us to reassess our leadership, processes and strategy. Successful organizations use self assessment to learn from achievement and introduce change to enhance the chance of success.

I believe the most acute problem facing CUD today is the absence of leadership. Lack of a clear vision, division and discord among members and support committees, insubordination to the wishes of the imprisoned leaders and most important the despair among CUD core supporters are some of the manifestations of this problem. To their credit the leaders in Qaliti not only recognized this deficit but instituted a new leadership. This worthwhile effort has been stymied by those who are more interested in the past as opposed to the future. The leadership in Qaliti has to revisit this issue urgently. The leaders should appoint leaders that are visionary, competent, and command the respect of the Ethiopian people.

Another important and urgent need is the adoption of an achievable and unifying short term objective. The release of the imprisoned leaders is clearly the most immediate objective. Today this question captures the attention of most Ethiopians, opposition organizations and the international community. The imprisonment of the prisoners is a unifying and motivating cause. CUD should mobilize all its resources to create and lead a broad coalition to bring this objective into fruition.

Under the slogan of freeing the prisoner CUD should mobilize its resources to strengthen its organization. It is imperative that CUD restore its organizational strength to achieve not only the short term objective of freeing the political prisoners but also to create and effectively compete in a peaceful political process.

The Diaspora should work to provide the financial and diplomatic support to those back home who are working at great risk to resurrect the movement. Support organizations should refrain from trading in the unfamiliar area of politics and concentrate their effort where their support has been proven.

CUD should work with the opposition in Ethiopia to facilitate the freedom of the prisoners. This has to be based on two principles: 1) The leaders of CUD are those in prison and the legitimate organization the one the prisoner lead and 2) Joining parliament should not create permanent division among the anti-EPRDF opposition. CUD should challenge the opposition in parliament to use its proclaimed political capital to advocate for the release of the political prisoners. The bar to meet this challenge should be high. Passing remarks in the Parliament or on media occasions is not sufficient. The opposition in parliament should organize and mobilize their constituents to pressure the government to release the political prisoner. This must include strikes, demonstration, rallies, boycotting of political events. The goal is to refute the government’s claim that the imprisonment of the leaders is a legal issue and reaffirm the case as a political problem.

The path suggested above provides the parliamentary opposition the opportunity to improve their standing among the Ethiopian people. The suspicion and marginalization of the political organizations in Parliament will be remedied only by practical and confidence building measures. This route provides them the opportunity not only to rehabilitate their organization and the standing of their leaders but it is also a good opportunity to test the rights established in the constitution.

The Diaspora opposition should be engaged to drum up support among their constituents and hosting governments to bring about the release of the imprisoned leaders.

The release of the political prisoners is a necessary precondition to move the democratic process forward. Ethiopian democracy is in Qaliti prison with the elected leaders of CUD. The mobilization to free our prisoners should be used to broaden and unify the opposition, strengthen our organization and restore the democratization process.

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The writer can be reached at engida.fanta@yahoo.com