People's power makes Meles cave in
By Our Staff Writer October 2, 2005
ADDIS ABABA - Facing an angry nation determined to end 14 years of brutal rule, Ethiopia's Meles Zenawi on Sunday began Western-mediated talks with the country's powerful opposition leaders who had called for a three-day national strike to make his government ungovernable.
The unconditional release of all jailed opposition members, the immediate withdrawal of government forces laying siege to the capital Addis Ababa and other towns, unfettered opposition access to the national media entirely controlled by the ruling party of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi are three of the initial talking points coming before the ultimate agenda paves the way for the formation of a national unity government, a top Ethiopian opposition official said on Sunday.
Yacob Haile-Mariam, a prominent Ethiopian lawyer of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), told an online Ethiopian Forum at PalTalk that a three-day national strike was called off after Meles backed off from his previous no-talk stance, and expressed readiness to talk to the opposition parties.
Yacob said CUD jointly with the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF) were pressing for the inviolable respect of the fundamental political and democratic rights of the Ethiopian people. "There are major political hurdles that need to be cleared, and key pillars of democracy such as putting an independent judiciary in place must take precedence before all sides agree to the formation of a national unity government."
Details of the talks under way in Addis would come shortly.
Earlier, the associated press reported CUD and UEDF called off a three-day national strike after a late-night meeting with six diplomats, including European Commission delegation head Tim Clarke and U.S. embassy Charge D’Affaires Vicky Huddleston, during which they agreed to hold talks with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi Sunday.
"We have been in contacts with several ambassadors and they have also been in contact with the prime minister. As a result of the discussion, we have canceled our stay-home announced hours ago," said Beyene Petros, chairman of the UEDF.
Beyene said that when the diplomats met separately with Meles the prime minister said he would hold talks with the opposition so long as they called off their strike, which was set to begin Monday.
"We believe this (the talks) advances the democratic process in a peaceful and constructive manner," Beyene told journalists, speaking on behalf of the two parties and refusing to take any questions.
Clarke, who was at the news conference, told The Associated Press Meles will meet Sunday with Beyene; Vice Chairwoman of the UEDF, Birtukan Mideksa; and senior CUD leader Berhanu Nega.
On Saturday, the two opposition groups had asked people to stay home starting Monday to show their discontent with the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front party that was declared the winner of troubled May polls.
Earlier the two parties had planned to hold a major rally in Addis Ababa on Sunday, but postponed it when the government demanded they unconditionally accept the results of the parliamentary elections that they still contest.
Police killed dozens of people in June during demonstrations in Addis Ababa to protest alleged election fraud.
On Thursday, the two parties said that since Sept. 19 authorities had arrested 859 opposition members across the country and security forces had killed one opposition member in the Amhara region, 400 kilometers (250 miles) south of the capital, Addis Ababa.
Final results released by the National Electoral Board gave Meles’s Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front 327 seats in the 547-seat parliament, enough to form the next government. Opposition parties got 174 seats - a substantial improvement over the 12 that they won in the previous elections in 2000.
European Union observers and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter have expressed serious concerns about the elections, but also said that, overall, the experience would encourage democracy. It was the first Ethiopian election that foreign experts were allowed to observe.
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ADDIS ABABA - Facing an angry nation determined to end 14 years of brutal rule, Ethiopia's Meles Zenawi on Sunday began Western-mediated talks with the country's powerful opposition leaders who had called for a three-day national strike to make his government ungovernable.
The unconditional release of all jailed opposition members, the immediate withdrawal of government forces laying siege to the capital Addis Ababa and other towns, unfettered opposition access to the national media entirely controlled by the ruling party of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi are three of the initial talking points coming before the ultimate agenda paves the way for the formation of a national unity government, a top Ethiopian opposition official said on Sunday.
Yacob Haile-Mariam, a prominent Ethiopian lawyer of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), told an online Ethiopian Forum at PalTalk that a three-day national strike was called off after Meles backed off from his previous no-talk stance, and expressed readiness to talk to the opposition parties.
Yacob said CUD jointly with the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF) were pressing for the inviolable respect of the fundamental political and democratic rights of the Ethiopian people. "There are major political hurdles that need to be cleared, and key pillars of democracy such as putting an independent judiciary in place must take precedence before all sides agree to the formation of a national unity government."
Details of the talks under way in Addis would come shortly.
Earlier, the associated press reported CUD and UEDF called off a three-day national strike after a late-night meeting with six diplomats, including European Commission delegation head Tim Clarke and U.S. embassy Charge D’Affaires Vicky Huddleston, during which they agreed to hold talks with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi Sunday.
"We have been in contacts with several ambassadors and they have also been in contact with the prime minister. As a result of the discussion, we have canceled our stay-home announced hours ago," said Beyene Petros, chairman of the UEDF.
Beyene said that when the diplomats met separately with Meles the prime minister said he would hold talks with the opposition so long as they called off their strike, which was set to begin Monday.
"We believe this (the talks) advances the democratic process in a peaceful and constructive manner," Beyene told journalists, speaking on behalf of the two parties and refusing to take any questions.
Clarke, who was at the news conference, told The Associated Press Meles will meet Sunday with Beyene; Vice Chairwoman of the UEDF, Birtukan Mideksa; and senior CUD leader Berhanu Nega.
On Saturday, the two opposition groups had asked people to stay home starting Monday to show their discontent with the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front party that was declared the winner of troubled May polls.
Earlier the two parties had planned to hold a major rally in Addis Ababa on Sunday, but postponed it when the government demanded they unconditionally accept the results of the parliamentary elections that they still contest.
Police killed dozens of people in June during demonstrations in Addis Ababa to protest alleged election fraud.
On Thursday, the two parties said that since Sept. 19 authorities had arrested 859 opposition members across the country and security forces had killed one opposition member in the Amhara region, 400 kilometers (250 miles) south of the capital, Addis Ababa.
Final results released by the National Electoral Board gave Meles’s Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front 327 seats in the 547-seat parliament, enough to form the next government. Opposition parties got 174 seats - a substantial improvement over the 12 that they won in the previous elections in 2000.
European Union observers and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter have expressed serious concerns about the elections, but also said that, overall, the experience would encourage democracy. It was the first Ethiopian election that foreign experts were allowed to observe.
ETHIOMEDIA.COM - ETHIOPIA'S PREMIER NEWS AND VIEWS WEBSITE
© COPYRIGHT 20001-2003 ETHIOMEDIA.COM. EMAIL: webmaster@ethiomedia.com
