The May 15, 2005 verdict on the viability of ethnic-centered politics in Ethiopia.

On May 15, 2005 the majority of the 26 million Ethiopian voters rejected ethnic-centered politics and elected the Kinijit party (CUDP) to govern them. Ethnic parties such as the EPRDF, which is the coalition of ethnic-parties that the TPLF had formed, and the Hebret (UEDF), which is a coalition of ethnic parties and panethiopian ones, did not win majority votes as the electorate rejected ethnic-based politics. Unfortunately the ruling ethnic Tigrayan party placed in jail the elected Kinijit party leaders and thousands of its supporters. Did that action taken by the ethnic Tigrayan party against the votes of the electorate destroy the preferred non-ethnic based politics that they voted for? Did placing the elected Kinijit leaders in jail derail the effort of the Kinijit party from championing politics that is not ethnic-centered?

Check your own political belief system by evaluating the following. Imagine that an Oromo Ethiopian, Ato Tolossa, who does not believe in ethnic-centered politics, was murdered by cadres of an ethnic-centered party. Would Ato Tolossa’s murder be acceptable to you if it was committed by OPDO, OLF, or TPLF? Does which ethnic-centered party murdered Ato Tolassa matter to you? If the hurt you feel is dependent upon who killed Ato Tolassa, your political belief system is more likely ethnic-centered. Ato Hailu Showel, W/O Bertukan, Dr. Hailu are among the many Kinijit party leaders, who are languishing in jail because of trumped-up charges brought against them by the ethnic Tigrayan party, the TPLF. If you are not angry at the act of incarcerating elected party leaders, your belief system is likely ethnic-centered. Think about it a bit harder. Tigrayans, Oromos, and others are members of Kinijit, which is not an ethnic-centered party. Yet, ethnic-centered parties and their members are not angry at the incarceration of the Kinijit party leaders and supporters. Do you believe that the anger or satisfaction garnered by the incarceration of elected Kinijit party leaders is a condition which shows that the feelings of people depend on their party affiliation? Would ethnic-centered parties care about the incarceration of people from their ethnic type?

This leads to the inquiry of what is an ethnic-centered belief system that the majority of the Ethiopian electorate rejected on May 15, 2005 ? Ethnic-centered politics works for the fruition of the perceived purposes of group-rights, more than the rights of the individual in the group. Such would be why an Oromo ethnic-centered belief system would accept work done by the OLF, OPDO, ONC, et cetera, as more valuable than work done by W/O Bertukan Medekesa of Kinijit. Likewise, a Tigrayan ethnic-centered belief system would accept work done by the TPLF, TAND, et cetera, as more valuable than that performed by Dr. Hailu Araya of Kinijit. The majority of the 26 million voters of Ethiopians rejected ethnic-centered politics. Yet, the ethnic-centered politics that is managed by well-organized individuals would not budge. The ethnic-centered political enterprise remains profitable to the organizers so long as several of them can form coalitions, and more so with panethiopian parties in their midst. Hence, the struggle to respect the votes of the Ethiopian is quite protracted and should be waged against the TPLF and other peddlers of ethnic-based politics.

Those Ethiopians who wish to respect the votes of the 26 million Ethiopians that  were cast on May 15, 2005 , would realize that ethnic-centered politics has been rejected by the electorate in Ethiopia . The Ethiopians rejected group rights and elected the supremacy of individual rights and a one-man-one vote democracy under a rule of law enshrined in the Kinijit party movement. The hope is that the Diaspora Ethiopian will join hands with and support the electorate in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia shall survive.

HG, 6/3/06