Ethiopia falls down under dictatorial regime of one party called TPLF (Tigrea people liberation front) which is controlled by one minority ethnic group that make up only 6% of 96 million Ethiopian population. They were in power for 24 years. They are now deciding themselves to continue in power as a result of their fake election which was carried out on 24/05/2015. As expected, TPLF has already declared that they have got 442 parliamentary seats so far out of 547 seats, while the final result is slated to be announced on June 22nd. This leaves the opposition empty-handed. Such victory by the regime is a message of disgrace and shows that a multi-party system is over in Ethiopia and it seems as it is monopolized only by one party. We Ethiopians rather embarrassed than surprised by the election results. This is because the election was also carried out without having
International election observers, like European Union and the United States of America which monitored the rigged 2005 and 2010 elections. The only international monitor that observed the election was The African Union Election Observation Mission (AUEOM), but they are less trusty. However, the mission also said in the 21 percent of the 356 polling stations it visited, station officers violated rules by refusing to demonstrate empty ballot boxes before the official start of the elections. This can acknowledge that the election was not free and fair even by African standard. There was organized robbery by the members of the ruling party. The main opposition Parties do not accept the process as free and fair and do not accept the outcome of unhealthy and undemocratic elections. At the beginning, the opposition has been hindered from campaigning through arrests, harassment, intimidation and unequal access to funding and media. That has left the country without any viable counter voice to the ruling party and resulted in highly controlled political and electoral participation. Due to this TPLF is unintentionally preparing the ground for a military takeover. For most Ethiopians, the chance for bringing change and democracy to the country through the ballot box is now a distant dream. Indirectly the people are forced by TPLF to open armed rebellion. Even though the irony TPLF celebrate their complete “victory” over the opposition, the option for a repressive policy can only generate more conflicts and threats of popular uprisings, the control of which gives more power and indispensability to the military and security forces.
No wonder they do not believe in elections so as they celebrate this anniversary, they will boast about their accomplishments, but all the people know that they never offered anything better to the people or to the country than the previous dictatorial regime.
Do not be fooled, they know what they have done in killing their way to power and dividing the people to sustain their rule. We must find a much better way that includes everyone, including them and their descendants.
It is now the time for Ethiopians to join together around shared principles which incorporate the interests of both large and powerful groups as well as those of the minorities and the less powerful. As long as human right is not respected and there is no sound governance in Ethiopia, stability of the region will be under threat.
However, independent concern to reduce poverty is against the political interest of the ruling party because poverty is employed as a tool by the regime to protect its anti-democratic system of governance. For me, this is the main reason why we, Ethiopians, have remained in the most wretched poverty, though the ruling party has received a sum of 31 billion dollars in development aid from Western donors since 1991.
International election observers, like European Union and the United States of America which monitored the rigged 2005 and 2010 elections. The only international monitor that observed the election was The African Union Election Observation Mission (AUEOM), but they are less trusty. However, the mission also said in the 21 percent of the 356 polling stations it visited, station officers violated rules by refusing to demonstrate empty ballot boxes before the official start of the elections. This can acknowledge that the election was not free and fair even by African standard. There was organized robbery by the members of the ruling party. The main opposition Parties do not accept the process as free and fair and do not accept the outcome of unhealthy and undemocratic elections. At the beginning, the opposition has been hindered from campaigning through arrests, harassment, intimidation and unequal access to funding and media. That has left the country without any viable counter voice to the ruling party and resulted in highly controlled political and electoral participation. Due to this TPLF is unintentionally preparing the ground for a military takeover. For most Ethiopians, the chance for bringing change and democracy to the country through the ballot box is now a distant dream. Indirectly the people are forced by TPLF to open armed rebellion. Even though the irony TPLF celebrate their complete “victory” over the opposition, the option for a repressive policy can only generate more conflicts and threats of popular uprisings, the control of which gives more power and indispensability to the military and security forces.
No wonder they do not believe in elections so as they celebrate this anniversary, they will boast about their accomplishments, but all the people know that they never offered anything better to the people or to the country than the previous dictatorial regime.
Do not be fooled, they know what they have done in killing their way to power and dividing the people to sustain their rule. We must find a much better way that includes everyone, including them and their descendants.
It is now the time for Ethiopians to join together around shared principles which incorporate the interests of both large and powerful groups as well as those of the minorities and the less powerful. As long as human right is not respected and there is no sound governance in Ethiopia, stability of the region will be under threat.
However, independent concern to reduce poverty is against the political interest of the ruling party because poverty is employed as a tool by the regime to protect its anti-democratic system of governance. For me, this is the main reason why we, Ethiopians, have remained in the most wretched poverty, though the ruling party has received a sum of 31 billion dollars in development aid from Western donors since 1991.
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