May 27, 2005
Some scoopettes
There are three particularly good stories in this week's Sub Saharan Informer that we put to bed last night. I would call the first two scoopettes rather than scoops - mainly because I can't check the Amharic press to see if they are exclusives. (I'm on my third Amharic lesson and still can't remember all the greetings - it's a tough language.) The third is still very interesting.
The first is that the CUD is calling on its supporters to hold mass prayer protest sessions in mosques today and churches on Sunday. I know they have said they would call for peaceful protests in the past. But as far as I know, this is the first attempt to name a date for a protest. It could, in theory, spark clashes. Public protests are currently banned in Addis Ababa.
The second is an interview with Information Minister Bereket Simon over his fight for his seat in Lalibela. Apparently, the figures show he has lost. But the local party is appealing against the result. That is why the seat has still not appeared in the official results. He also defended state media for its patchy reporting of opposition claims - saying that many of them in effect incited violence.
And third is the fact that Ethiopian ministers are on a mission to Somaliland to look into using its Red Sea port Berbera for commerce.
[As the Sub Saharan still does not have a website, you can read the Reuters version via Han-Geeska Afrika Online.]
Posted by aheavens at May 27, 2005 4:57 AM
Comments
Can you ask Berket Simon two things.
1.I believe CUD is appealing the electon in Afar(the whole process even though the figure shows they won some area). Why is the NEB posted those results in Afar region but failed to post his loss??
2. Are you full or half Eriterian and what is your standing on the border issue and also uniting your familly??
Good luck
Andrew
Thank you again for the scoop.
Posted by: Bole at May 27, 2005 7:54 AM
EPRDF is a joke of a government and Bereket Simon is its best expression.
Posted by: salam at May 27, 2005 8:05 AM
" 2. Are you full or half Eriterian and what is your standing on the border issue and also uniting your familly?? "
Oh please, not again. Apparently Ethipians drove BBC crazy telling them they were Eritrean during the last war.
Posted by: tobian at May 27, 2005 3:11 PM
the second story caught my eyes, mr spokesman bereket has been interviewed last weekend by one of the radio stations based in washington dc and he was congratulated for winning or retaining his seat! i have been waiting to see his name on the list too but still no bereket simeon.
funny when only 7 seats are remaining out of 138 in amhara region; one of them happens to be his seat.
Andrew, isn't one of your job specification investigative journalism. well, if you dont go get amber to go and use her charm to find out what really went on in the area.
Posted by: GM at May 27, 2005 3:52 PM
GM: I have been trying to pursuade Andrew to do some investigative reporting on the election, but he is not biting. He had accompanied Meles to Adwa on election day to see Meles cast a vote in an uncontested seat. Andrew says he has no money to go to the regions, and he says he will miss reporting on the big election news if he travels outside Addis. I find both of his reasons very unconvincing. I think Andrew needs to go to places like Lalibela to find out why the Ethiopian people voted the way the did.
Posted by: Fikru at May 27, 2005 4:40 PM
No Army can stop an idea whose time has come! With all respect to our countryside people who live in rural villages and small towns, the performance of EPRDF could simply be measured by the political barometer and economic thermometer installed in Addis Ababa i.e. the metropolitan people. This is where the government resides and where the palace is located. When EPRDF gets all of its candidates from Mayor to Spokesperson defeated in Addis Ababa, what the hell is it thinking. Can't they understand that the majority of Ethiopians don't like their narrow nationalism and shrewd governance any more? See, the problem is that Mr. Meles like his predesessors can't viusalize his demise. The minds of dictators are often clouded and they can't sense when public tide is rushing to wipe them out like tsunami. Nothing and nobody can block the emerging change that is hunging over the horizons of Ethiopia. The wise flourishes and the foolish vanishes. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Can't You?
Posted by: Sahlu Bekele at May 27, 2005 5:14 PM
I agree Fikru.
It would be nice to see what the people of Dessie or Lalibela think(or if not that far maybe even closer to rural Addis).
I think everone is starved for information from those reasons. I hope Andrew will reconsider your advice.
Posted by: Umamba at May 27, 2005 5:30 PM
oh well, Mr Bereket has lost his seat in Bugna, North Wello according to NEB provisional results.
He gained 45.71% while the CUD candidate (Desitaw Kassa) gained 54.29%.
Posted by: GM at May 30, 2005 10:06 PM