Letter of gratitude and appeal to members of European Parliament
By Robele Ababya
October 26, 2005
Honourables,
I write to express my humble gratitude to the European Union Parliament (EUP) for its concern about the threat to the democratic process posed by the Prime Minister Meles regime in the aftermath of the historic election of 15 may 2005. In the same breath, I wish to appeal to this august body for its continuous support for the evolution and development of free democratic institutions that the Ethiopian people are demanding in unison. The EUP has a historical mission and moral obligation to foster and defend democratic values everywhere on our planet Earth, which we now commonly call “Global Village."
The Ethiopia people set in motion a peaceful popular revolution in a magnificent display of unity, patience, endurance and civility at the polls of 15 May 2005. The people refused to leave the polling stations until their votes were counted, collated and announced. That was an irrefutable evidence of their maturity that counting of votes is as much an integral part as the casting of votes in a free and fair election. The Ethiopian people have shown that they were able and ready to usher in a vibrant democratic society by any standard as agreed by he international community. That day of 15 May 2005 marked an unprecedented peaceful revolution by the Ethiopian people demanding change. It evoked a marvelous spirit of unity and enthusiasm of Ethiopians to show genuine interest in the politics of their beloved motherland. The chilling indifference to politics that was common in the recent past among Ethiopians abroad and at home changed to enthusiastic participation almost as if it was inspired by a divine power. This peaceful Ethiopian revolution stood as a towering monument challenging the free world to support it or risk the verdict of history for inaction. This peaceful revolution deserves the encouragement and support of the EU.
Honourables,
The French Revolution has set quintessential principles of what governments are for and what they must do. In a nutshell, governments must be lean, inexpensive, effective and accountable to the people that have created it through free and fair universal suffrage. This universal precept is inherently recognized even where people have not heard about the French Revolution. I can relate an interesting example in Ethiopia where people grumbled when their revered Monarch, Emperor Menelik II, for the first time established His Cabinet in Western style and appointed a very few ministers thereto. The burden to bear costs of the newly crated ministries was the concern of the people. His successor, Empress Zewditu, decided to increase the number of ministries and ministers. There was public uproar and a sit-down strike in Addis Ababa (at the famous place called Janhoy Meda) that paralyzed as well as embarrassed Her Majesty’s government. The prestige and awesome power of the Monarchy was badly dented. The people said that they were tired of feeding the ‘jibotch’ (means hyenas) already in power and more such mouths to feed meant more tax burden that they could not endure. The then Crown Prince, later crowned Emperor Haile Selassie in 1915, negotiated with the strikers. From thereon successive governments were perceived as hideouts or dens of corrupt officials. To the Ethiopian people, a government is place as a necessary evil because they fear a state of anarchy more.
There were 12 ministries for a long time during the reigns of Emperor Haile Selassie I compared with 15 under the repressive Derg regime. The despotic TPLF regime has 20 ministries filled by one Prime Minister, one deputy Prime Minister, 28 ministers (including the seven in the prime minister’s office) and 34 state ministers – not to count highly paid officials below the rank of state minister. All these ministers and officials will at least in part be on the payroll of the donor countries through the direct budget support to the government. It goes without saying that the Meles regime, which is one of the most corrupt governments in the world – No.131 out of 147 countries according to Transparency International) will continue to run a more corrupt, clumsy and bureaucratic government machinery at the expense of taxpayers in the donor countries. It is an open secret that some ministers in the current regime own lush mansions with swimming pools and drive expensive cars. It is known that these ‘dignitaries’ were poor at the time EPLF came to power. They lost no time, as it were, to be ‘baptized’ in the holy waters of capitalism to become rich in a very short time.
There is a comment that African officials grasped the elegant and lucrative life style of the West, but not the discipline that goes with it. These Ethiopian ministers will trot the gamut of metropolis of donor countries wearing classic suits and ties, and holding matching briefcases in their hands, to beg for handouts on behalf of the Ethiopian people by presenting project documents drawn up for them by foreign experts at high costs. The handouts that are received on behalf of the Ethiopian people will achieve nothing other than reinforce dependency syndrome and enrich corrupt officials. In the end, the losers will be the poor Ethiopian people and the taxpayers in the donor countries. Does it make sense to finance repressive regimes like the TPLF government?
Honorables,
Europe has emerged from its turbulent past, where it was sometimes referred to as a ‘cockpit’ of war, into a powerful democratic and prosperous society. The 25-member EU with its 450 million population is already commanding the respect of the international community as a competing superpower in waiting to counterbalance the one on the other side of the Atlantic. It is needless to underline that this awesome power will no doubt entail moral responsibility to ensure world peace and stability in a climate of prosperity and supremacy of the rule of law. Europe with its extensive experience in the administration of its colonies in the past has the moral obligation to see to it that democracy will flourish everywhere.
Ethiopia too is on the verge of getting out from its troubled past somewhat similar to that Europe had gone through. Regimes came and went with the barrel of the gun at the expense of spilt blood, injuries and loss of life, not to mention enormous destruction to property. The political ambitions of the warlords, and frequent battles between them, brought enslavement and misery on the peasants regarded as expendables by the local or national powers in being. The fate of the peasant got increasingly worse and the repressive Derg regime and its successor TPLF. It is this chain of bloody succession to power of repressive regimes that the Ethiopian people overwhelmingly decided to stop at the historic polls of 15 May 2005. The EU is morally bound to assist the Ethiopian people to achieve this noble goal.
Honorables,
I appreciate with reverence the good intention of the EUP urging the main Opposition, CDUP, to join the parliament dominated by the TPLF and its fabricated allies. The cardinal question is what CDUP would be expected to do in such a parliament, given that the ruling party has foreclosed all avenues for substantive debate to achieve the results demanded by the electorates.
Notwithstanding its victory at the polls, the CUDP has made a noble compromise calling on the ruling party to settle the intricate, complex and dangerous political problems through the formation of a government of national unity and reconciliation. The ruling party has adamantly refused this overture by the CUDP. The government has not so far replied to the 8-point preconditions demanded by the CUDP. The regime did not respond to the call of the EUP for the observance of human rights and atmosphere conducive to the development of democracy in Ethiopia. For example, the Meles regime has made an overture to the OLF leadership to meet them unconditionally. Is Meles going to share power with the OLF so that the latter can pursue its main aim of self-determination? Why not include all other dissidents in a new arrangement to solve the colossal political problem of Ethiopia wallowing in abject poverty?
What is really worrying is the fact that Prime Minister Meles has accused the Leader of CUDP, Engineer Hailu Shawul, for treason. This accusation, coming as it did from the Prime Minister wielding absolute power in serfdom, amounts to a guilty verdict even before the charge is filed with the courts that are not independent anyway. This is a mockery of democracy par excellance. The United Nations and the Western Powers are morally bound to stop this lunacy of Meles Zenawi. The Ethiopian people will not sacrifice their unarmed heroes, no matter how much sacrifice is required.
Honorables,
The Ethiopian people have the culture and tradition of silent resistance or outright uprising against their governments. They have been expressing silent resistance through their writings, proverbs, poems, songs, folklore, wailing, and dirge to mention but a few. There were several uprisings and attempts to overthrow Emperor Haile Selassie during His long reign. A military junta called Derg under Mengistu Hailemariam finally deposed the Emperor. The present peaceful revolution of the Ethiopian people is a continuation of the past struggles for change from slavery under dictatorial regimes to freedom under democratic rule of law. This revolution is unprecedented in its magnitude and clarity of its vision. The people will demand that visionary opposition leaders are respected and unharmed by the specially forces of the regime. I am certain that this time, unlike as in the past, people will revolt with far-reaching consequences if their leaders are imprisoned by the ruling repressive regime. In keeping with their culture and tradition, the Ethiopian people will continue to oppose governments that are not accountable to them. They will not stop their resolve to put end to the TPLF regime, which rules by the power of the gun. They will demand for democracy and the rule of law. They will oppose taxation without representation. They will demand to stop the spending spree of the ruling regime on arms.
At this juncture before I conclude this letter, I wish to bring to the kind attention of the EUP that the Eritrean and the Ethiopian repressive regimes are beating war drums over the boarder demarcation issue. We all know that the apparent bone of contention is Badme, which is a small barren chunk of land. The war of 1998-2000 has cost over 70,000 lives, not to mention injuries and other related human tragedies. The brinkmanship of these two dictators is on the verge of destabilizing the Horn of Africa. The duo know that they have lost the trust of their respective peoples and would do anything, including helping each other secretly, in order to save their necks. It is therefore possible that the beating of war drums is a ploy to divert domestic attention from the mounting internal public pressure being exerted on the two dictators. Thus there is no rationale whatsoever to count on these dictators as reliable partners for the war on terrorism.
So, it would not be wise for the donors to avail direct budget support to the Meles regime. For such direct budget support will no doubt give the regime the flexibility to spend domestically generated income on military hardware and salaries for the special security forces that are perpetuating state-sponsored violence under the direct command of the Prime Minister. This is my earnest appeal to the august European Parliament.
Most respectfully,
Robele Ababya
ETHIOMEDIA.COM - ETHIOPIA'S PREMIER NEWS AND VIEWS WEBSITE
© COPYRIGHT 20001-2003 ETHIOMEDIA.COM. EMAIL: webmaster@ethiomedia.com
Honourables,
I write to express my humble gratitude to the European Union Parliament (EUP) for its concern about the threat to the democratic process posed by the Prime Minister Meles regime in the aftermath of the historic election of 15 may 2005. In the same breath, I wish to appeal to this august body for its continuous support for the evolution and development of free democratic institutions that the Ethiopian people are demanding in unison. The EUP has a historical mission and moral obligation to foster and defend democratic values everywhere on our planet Earth, which we now commonly call “Global Village."The Ethiopia people set in motion a peaceful popular revolution in a magnificent display of unity, patience, endurance and civility at the polls of 15 May 2005. The people refused to leave the polling stations until their votes were counted, collated and announced. That was an irrefutable evidence of their maturity that counting of votes is as much an integral part as the casting of votes in a free and fair election. The Ethiopian people have shown that they were able and ready to usher in a vibrant democratic society by any standard as agreed by he international community. That day of 15 May 2005 marked an unprecedented peaceful revolution by the Ethiopian people demanding change. It evoked a marvelous spirit of unity and enthusiasm of Ethiopians to show genuine interest in the politics of their beloved motherland. The chilling indifference to politics that was common in the recent past among Ethiopians abroad and at home changed to enthusiastic participation almost as if it was inspired by a divine power. This peaceful Ethiopian revolution stood as a towering monument challenging the free world to support it or risk the verdict of history for inaction. This peaceful revolution deserves the encouragement and support of the EU.
Honourables,
The French Revolution has set quintessential principles of what governments are for and what they must do. In a nutshell, governments must be lean, inexpensive, effective and accountable to the people that have created it through free and fair universal suffrage. This universal precept is inherently recognized even where people have not heard about the French Revolution. I can relate an interesting example in Ethiopia where people grumbled when their revered Monarch, Emperor Menelik II, for the first time established His Cabinet in Western style and appointed a very few ministers thereto. The burden to bear costs of the newly crated ministries was the concern of the people. His successor, Empress Zewditu, decided to increase the number of ministries and ministers. There was public uproar and a sit-down strike in Addis Ababa (at the famous place called Janhoy Meda) that paralyzed as well as embarrassed Her Majesty’s government. The prestige and awesome power of the Monarchy was badly dented. The people said that they were tired of feeding the ‘jibotch’ (means hyenas) already in power and more such mouths to feed meant more tax burden that they could not endure. The then Crown Prince, later crowned Emperor Haile Selassie in 1915, negotiated with the strikers. From thereon successive governments were perceived as hideouts or dens of corrupt officials. To the Ethiopian people, a government is place as a necessary evil because they fear a state of anarchy more.
There were 12 ministries for a long time during the reigns of Emperor Haile Selassie I compared with 15 under the repressive Derg regime. The despotic TPLF regime has 20 ministries filled by one Prime Minister, one deputy Prime Minister, 28 ministers (including the seven in the prime minister’s office) and 34 state ministers – not to count highly paid officials below the rank of state minister. All these ministers and officials will at least in part be on the payroll of the donor countries through the direct budget support to the government. It goes without saying that the Meles regime, which is one of the most corrupt governments in the world – No.131 out of 147 countries according to Transparency International) will continue to run a more corrupt, clumsy and bureaucratic government machinery at the expense of taxpayers in the donor countries. It is an open secret that some ministers in the current regime own lush mansions with swimming pools and drive expensive cars. It is known that these ‘dignitaries’ were poor at the time EPLF came to power. They lost no time, as it were, to be ‘baptized’ in the holy waters of capitalism to become rich in a very short time.
There is a comment that African officials grasped the elegant and lucrative life style of the West, but not the discipline that goes with it. These Ethiopian ministers will trot the gamut of metropolis of donor countries wearing classic suits and ties, and holding matching briefcases in their hands, to beg for handouts on behalf of the Ethiopian people by presenting project documents drawn up for them by foreign experts at high costs. The handouts that are received on behalf of the Ethiopian people will achieve nothing other than reinforce dependency syndrome and enrich corrupt officials. In the end, the losers will be the poor Ethiopian people and the taxpayers in the donor countries. Does it make sense to finance repressive regimes like the TPLF government?
Honorables,
Europe has emerged from its turbulent past, where it was sometimes referred to as a ‘cockpit’ of war, into a powerful democratic and prosperous society. The 25-member EU with its 450 million population is already commanding the respect of the international community as a competing superpower in waiting to counterbalance the one on the other side of the Atlantic. It is needless to underline that this awesome power will no doubt entail moral responsibility to ensure world peace and stability in a climate of prosperity and supremacy of the rule of law. Europe with its extensive experience in the administration of its colonies in the past has the moral obligation to see to it that democracy will flourish everywhere.
Ethiopia too is on the verge of getting out from its troubled past somewhat similar to that Europe had gone through. Regimes came and went with the barrel of the gun at the expense of spilt blood, injuries and loss of life, not to mention enormous destruction to property. The political ambitions of the warlords, and frequent battles between them, brought enslavement and misery on the peasants regarded as expendables by the local or national powers in being. The fate of the peasant got increasingly worse and the repressive Derg regime and its successor TPLF. It is this chain of bloody succession to power of repressive regimes that the Ethiopian people overwhelmingly decided to stop at the historic polls of 15 May 2005. The EU is morally bound to assist the Ethiopian people to achieve this noble goal.
Honorables,
I appreciate with reverence the good intention of the EUP urging the main Opposition, CDUP, to join the parliament dominated by the TPLF and its fabricated allies. The cardinal question is what CDUP would be expected to do in such a parliament, given that the ruling party has foreclosed all avenues for substantive debate to achieve the results demanded by the electorates.
Notwithstanding its victory at the polls, the CUDP has made a noble compromise calling on the ruling party to settle the intricate, complex and dangerous political problems through the formation of a government of national unity and reconciliation. The ruling party has adamantly refused this overture by the CUDP. The government has not so far replied to the 8-point preconditions demanded by the CUDP. The regime did not respond to the call of the EUP for the observance of human rights and atmosphere conducive to the development of democracy in Ethiopia. For example, the Meles regime has made an overture to the OLF leadership to meet them unconditionally. Is Meles going to share power with the OLF so that the latter can pursue its main aim of self-determination? Why not include all other dissidents in a new arrangement to solve the colossal political problem of Ethiopia wallowing in abject poverty?
What is really worrying is the fact that Prime Minister Meles has accused the Leader of CUDP, Engineer Hailu Shawul, for treason. This accusation, coming as it did from the Prime Minister wielding absolute power in serfdom, amounts to a guilty verdict even before the charge is filed with the courts that are not independent anyway. This is a mockery of democracy par excellance. The United Nations and the Western Powers are morally bound to stop this lunacy of Meles Zenawi. The Ethiopian people will not sacrifice their unarmed heroes, no matter how much sacrifice is required.
Honorables,
The Ethiopian people have the culture and tradition of silent resistance or outright uprising against their governments. They have been expressing silent resistance through their writings, proverbs, poems, songs, folklore, wailing, and dirge to mention but a few. There were several uprisings and attempts to overthrow Emperor Haile Selassie during His long reign. A military junta called Derg under Mengistu Hailemariam finally deposed the Emperor. The present peaceful revolution of the Ethiopian people is a continuation of the past struggles for change from slavery under dictatorial regimes to freedom under democratic rule of law. This revolution is unprecedented in its magnitude and clarity of its vision. The people will demand that visionary opposition leaders are respected and unharmed by the specially forces of the regime. I am certain that this time, unlike as in the past, people will revolt with far-reaching consequences if their leaders are imprisoned by the ruling repressive regime. In keeping with their culture and tradition, the Ethiopian people will continue to oppose governments that are not accountable to them. They will not stop their resolve to put end to the TPLF regime, which rules by the power of the gun. They will demand for democracy and the rule of law. They will oppose taxation without representation. They will demand to stop the spending spree of the ruling regime on arms.
At this juncture before I conclude this letter, I wish to bring to the kind attention of the EUP that the Eritrean and the Ethiopian repressive regimes are beating war drums over the boarder demarcation issue. We all know that the apparent bone of contention is Badme, which is a small barren chunk of land. The war of 1998-2000 has cost over 70,000 lives, not to mention injuries and other related human tragedies. The brinkmanship of these two dictators is on the verge of destabilizing the Horn of Africa. The duo know that they have lost the trust of their respective peoples and would do anything, including helping each other secretly, in order to save their necks. It is therefore possible that the beating of war drums is a ploy to divert domestic attention from the mounting internal public pressure being exerted on the two dictators. Thus there is no rationale whatsoever to count on these dictators as reliable partners for the war on terrorism.
So, it would not be wise for the donors to avail direct budget support to the Meles regime. For such direct budget support will no doubt give the regime the flexibility to spend domestically generated income on military hardware and salaries for the special security forces that are perpetuating state-sponsored violence under the direct command of the Prime Minister. This is my earnest appeal to the august European Parliament.
Most respectfully,
Robele Ababya
ETHIOMEDIA.COM - ETHIOPIA'S PREMIER NEWS AND VIEWS WEBSITE
© COPYRIGHT 20001-2003 ETHIOMEDIA.COM. EMAIL: webmaster@ethiomedia.com
