EDP: An Authentic Opposition or A Political Pawn?

By Habtamu Haile

Recently, the European Union (EU) warned the ruling party of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was stifling opposition parties in the country, and cited lack of democratic governance, conversely the prevalence of dictatorship, was contributing to the deepening political and economic crises in the country.

EU current chairman Greek Ambassador Spyros Aliagas said: "Stifling opposition could lead to further violence." EU may have received its answer this week as the government-organized conference saw EPRDF boss Meles and a coterie of his accomplices seated along with Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP) officials," if EDP is to represent all the other major opposition parties that boycotted and dismissed the debate as a government propaganda platform that would only serve the interests of the ruling tyrannical party, EPRDF.

What makes the current panel discussion different from any other EPRDF Cadre School Seminar is that it was held at Sheraton Hotel.

Almost 12 years since EPRDF controlled state power in Ethiopia, the ruling party continues, under its supreme boss Meles Zenawi, to using same old tactics it used on day one to project itself as a pro-democracy political party in the eyes of a suspicious international community, not to mention the Ethiopian public to whom 'political change' and salvation from a merciless tyranny is long overdue.

On day one, in mid-1991, Meles Zenawi went on national TV along with Dr. Mekonnen Bishaw, Prof. Mesfin Woldemariam, and Prof. Andreas Eshete. The first panel discussion served its purpose: the new rebel group that fought for Eritrean independence and against all conceivable national interests of a battered Ethiopia, was indeed committed to a democratic governance!

But was it? Dr. Mekonnen was fired from his teaching job at the university almost a year later, along with other 42 academics, as part of Meles Zenawi's campaign of clearing the university of 'chauvinistic elements,' and has ever lived under the constant threat of harassment and arrest, while Prof. Mesfin Woldemariam, founder of the Human Rights Congress, is known for his tug-of-war with the entire system. Mesfin's last active news-making event was when he was thrown into jail last year for allegedly inciting university student protests that left over 40 dead, and many others injured.

The other two panelists are Meles and Andreas. Andeas has been an active, sort-of behind-the-scene government functionary operating from his 'non-governmental' InterAfrica Group. Andreas has been at every event where the government sought endorsement of its anti-Ethiopia policies with the presence of 'neutral' Ethiopian scholars such as Andreas himself.

During the 1993 "Referendum" on Eritrea, Andreas was in Asmara, walking from kebele to kebele, side by side with former U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, David Shinn, as part of a 'monitoring' group witnessing the breaking away of Eritrea was indeed the genuine will of the Eritrean people, and not the fruit of a struggle by Eritrean-controlled TPLF leadership, as EPRDF critics have it.

Even as recent as last week at the Addis Ababa University, when university officials resigned protesting the threat of a new government plan rejected by most of the Faculty members, Prof. Andreas popped up as a voice of the regime. Academics scoffed him for his sellout role, but after he saw the forced resignation of three scholars, he is now rewarded with the presidency of the Addis Ababa University, and ready to implement a policy that would rob the faculty members of any lingering whiff of academic freedom.

Once again, it was Andreas Eshete's InterAfrica Group that organized the Sheraton Public Debate, and the only party that allowed and put its credibility under fire was EDP. The other major parties, such as the All Ethiopian Unity Organization (AEUO) and the Oromo National Cogress (ONC), rightly boycotted the debate because the Meles Zenawi party was on record for nearly 12 years of excessively brutal rule, and if there was a rule of law in Ethiopia today, there would be no legal ground for Meles' party to stand on, apart from facing treasonous charges.

Then how come EDP failed to join the other opposition parties and reject the cosmetic propaganda exercise? Was it expecting a democratic solution from a dictatorial institution? Did Meles change his disastrous, divisive and anti-Ethiopia policies even slightly? What did EDP really gain from the weekend appearance? And what did EDP lose? Perhaps a ton of faith from the public.

EDP's program is understandably based on a non-violent form of struggle. But who said civil disobedience and boycotting bogus government agendas are not part of the non-violent form of struggle? Is EDP helping its doubters who say the party is a phony opposition built upon the goodwill of Meles and his accomplices?

It is too early to pass verdict on EDP, a party that has kindled the hopes and aspirations of our people for peace and justice since EDP's formation a couple of years ago. During its recent European and North American tour, EDP enjoyed warm and cordial support. Would such image of EDP be now shattered?

In conclusion, the Ethiopian people, who have fallen on the worst of times in their history, would have been better served, and at least sighed a big political relief, if our opposition parties had shown a hard-to-come-by unity in purpose, than allowing themselves to be pulled left and right to suit the whims of a long-discredited regime. On EPRDF side, once it did its political shopping, it has answers to EU questions: "You asked us to have a dialog with the opposition. And we had one, very successful at that!" What does EDP have as an answer to its curious supporters? With Ato Meles getting volunteers to splinter the opposition, and not a united opposition that would lead street-wide protests, the suffering of the Ethiopian people may not, God forbid, end any time soon.

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