Andrew:

C'mon dude, we are wiating for some useful news from Ethiopia. True, the blogging aggregation may sound fun thing and it is your right; but your readers are waiting for some substantial news item like the ones you covered in Gonder.

We hear Anna Gomez is no more in Addis. Is that true? Is it an interesting news item? How about the meeting of Meles with Hailu Shawel and Berhanu Nega/. Isn't there something unique a good journalist can report on?

sincerely,

Dorzew

Dorzew,

Please refrain from attacking journalists.If you are not interested in this forum. Go find other forums such as walta.com where you will find people with your outlook. Andrew does not owe you anything.

Tyrel

CUD LOSES CREDIBILITY

AS ITS SCAPEGOAT STRATEGY FAILS

By Mathza

Immediately after the ballot casting, both the ruling party and the opposition parties claimed they had won. This wild claim by the opposition was taken as a biblical truth and repeated and echoed ad infinitum by the parties themselves, other organizations and elements in the Diaspora (the vociferous minority) and individuals who hate the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). The sad thing about this is that the so called educated people have the herd mentality, blindly following and echoing every thing uttered by the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) and the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF). They resort to sentimental and irrational utterances ignoring logical reasoning and analysis. Developments in regard to the election show that the oppositions’ claims were spurious and highly exaggerated. The various and endless claims were intended to hoodwink the people and undermine the electoral process. This was part of their strategy to topple the government. It failed.

Introduction

I would, by way of introduction, like to provide some brief background on EPRDF’s effort to introduce and develop democratic processes in Ethiopia and its intention for eventual integration with Eritrea. While assessing the achievements and failures of EPRDF (the latter invariably being the case as far as the opposition and their likes are concerned) during the pre-and post-election, it would be useful to keep in mind the stages that the EPRDF has gone through during its 14 years of rule. Its rule can be divided into three periods: (1) 1991-1998, including the transition, (2) the Ethio-Eritrean war and its aftermath and (3) the couple of years preceding the election. Despite the multitude of problems associated with transition and war, drought, etc. the government has made commendable progress during the first two. It is during the third period that progress in political, social and economic development accelerated. That the country is now on the right path has been acknowledged by the donor community. With the groundwork already at hand and solutions in the pipeline and provided the trend and momentum are kept, the country is heading towards the take-off stage of development and economic growth. It cannot be overemphasized, however, that the maintenance of peace and stability is a crucial precondition for this to happen.

Some oppositions, journalists and individuals have been repeatedly saying that the government was pressured by donors to conduct a free and fair election. There may be some truth in this in the form of the donor community encouraging government resolution to continue to make progress in the democratization process. The main reason, however, is the conviction and commitment on the part of the government itself to bring about democracy to the country. That this is so is clear from the government’s commitment to the African Union’s African Peer Review Mechanism. Ethiopia is among the countries that committed themselves to the rigorous evaluation of the Mechanism. The evaluation includes all the factors, such as good governance, human rights, freedom of press, etc., that complement and supplement the working of democracy. The government has been steadfastly working towards meeting these requirements. Besides, it should be recalled that the Prime Minister himself had been decrying the lack of strong and genuine opposition who denounce the use of force to change the government.

The vociferous elements in Ethiopia and the Diasopra have been and are vehemently critical of the Prime Minister’s policy in regard to Eritrea. Some are understandable; others are not. Eritrean independence and loss of Assab and the then accommodating policy on Eritrea are among the latter. Ethiopia was at a critical juncture when the EPRDF assumed power. The EPLF would never have agreed to anything short of independence for Eritrea with its colonial boundaries intact. The alternative would have been to continue the war with EPLF. This would have encouraged the many liberation fronts ready to take advantage of the situation and intensify their struggles. In other words, the country was in danger of Somalization. The only solution was to let Eritrea go and focus on maintaining the rest of the country intact. This, EPRDF did by formulating and implementing an ethnic-based government structure acceptable and responding to the grievances of the many ethnic groups. There is no doubt that this solution saved the country from disintegration.

With respect to the policy on Eritrea, it was forward looking. The Prime Minister’s intention and motive, it seems, were to undertake activities that could eventually lead to some kind of close association between the two countries. In his desire to enhance the development of the country, he diverted military expenses to development, immediately following the fall of the Derg regime. The strategy was to create conducive environment by implementing exemplary democratic governance which would lead to making tangible progress in sustainable political, social and economic development. He, apparently, believed that success in these coupled with maintaining amicable and fraternal relationship with Eritrea could herald closer relationship. That such an approach was leading towards that direction was indicated when, at a press conference in 1996, President Isayas himself hinted at the possibility for confederation. The then Eritrean Ambassador in Ethiopia was more specific in stating that political integration was the goal and that “forming an independent state was never the ultimate goal of our long struggle.”

The May 15 Election and Its Negative Aspects

On May 15, 2005, Ethiopia witnessed a big jump in the process of democratization. It was, unfortunately, marred by the opposition, particularly the CUD, some of whose leaders include former Derg, Meison and EPRP functionaries. They made it abundantly clear that they will not accept the result of the election if the ruling party won. They would only consider the election free and fair if they were to win. They want nothing but a zero-sum game outcome from the election – bordering on coup d’etat. To them usurping power is now or never. Short of EPRDF handing them the government administration on a silver platter they were, from day one, intent to grab it by any means and at any cost. They want to revive the era of princes when leadership was decided at the battle field where thousands of innocent people, particularly the poor farmers, perished, most of them forced by the war lords to follow them and fight for them. There is a parallel here in that the opposition incited and pressured a segment of the population to die for them. In this connection, it is sad to observe that the CUD Chairman, Hailu Shawel, who justified his association with the Derg for the sake of the safety of his children is now willing to sacrifice present day children by exposing them to harms ways in order to fulfill his limitless ambition.

They rejected the constitution and by implication the institutions that were created to implement it. They refused to be governed by the rule of law of the country particularly that related to the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE). They did not want to avail themselves of the existing legal process of resolving election disputes. From day one they vehemently accused the government of vote stealing, fraud and rigging. How did they themselves garner an unexpected close to one-third of the votes when all oppositions had only a total of 12 seats in the House of the Peoples’ Representatives that just ended its term. If there had been fraud allegation it would appear more plausible that it was from the side of the opposition as this has been proven to be the case by the Complaints Investigation Panels (CIPs).

Leaders of the opposition parties in an interview with foreign media said the election in Addis Ababa was defrauded and hence they will not accept the results. However, upon the announcement of the Addis Ababa election results, CUD immediately changed their stance and said the cheating was made elsewhere outside of Addis Ababa. This is the first of their successive flip-flops.

Leaders of the opposition parties in an interview with foreign media said the election in Addis Ababa was defrauded and hence they will not accept the results. However, upon the announcement of the Addis Ababa election results, CUD immediately changed their stance and said the cheating was made elsewhere outside of Addis Ababa. This is the first of their successive flip-flops.

They and their cohorts as well as many of the local private media confused and hoodwinked the voters by denying that the government has done some thing for the country, lying, fabricating and disseminating false information (Ag’azi special force from the Tigray Region being the latest), showering promises all and sundry they cannot fulfill and making the EPRDF the demon and the source of all the predicaments the country is in. The nay-sayers appealed to and got the votes from chauvinistic elements of the population who had lost property and power; want their ethnic elites, as in the past regimes, to continue to govern the country; are deadly against the ethnic-based federal system; propagate politics of hate; hold grudge against EPRDF: and shamefully conspire to free Ethiopia from EPRDF, the “colonizer.” They bought votes (bribed) using money provided by rich Diaspora Ethiopians, such as Solomon Bekele. I was told by a reliable person of an individual who was given 30 Birr to vote for CUD. According to anther source, CUD had distributed up to 150 Birr or live sheep. Is not this corruption? Is not this an indication of how corrupt CUD could be if it were to assume power?

The Diaspora pressured their folks and friends in Ethiopia, particularly in Addis Ababa, to vote for the opposition. This and the above coupled with disgruntled elements in the government with nostalgia for previous regimes who constitute about 70% of the federal civil service partly explains the defeat of EPRDF in Addis Ababa and some other towns. Eritrean venomous propaganda against TPLF and EPRDF, which surprisingly in many cases coincide with that of the opposition and its supporters must have influenced those electorate who want to hear what they want to hear. In an interview, the Prime Minister included the following groups among the instigators of the unrest and violence on June 8: those engaged in contraband business, those who had great connection with the past regimes, individuals and groups in the Diaspora, and the youth with various types of grudges against the EPRDF. Obviously, these are among those who helped CUD to gain such unexpected votes within six months of its existence. Apparently, it was not pure chance or the work of a miracle.

The NEBE official Tesfaye Mengesha’s interview on AEND Ethiopia Radio revealed to what extent the opposition parties defied the rule of law. They did not want to wait to hear the preliminary results of the election before taking whatever action they had planned to take. Apparently, it was not in their interest to wait. In other words, most of their allegations/complaints were not supported by convincing evidences which were subsequently found to be the case. Of 140 complaints lodged by the opposition only a handful of them were found to be genuinely supported by evidences and thus recommended for re-run elections by the CIPs. The CIPs comprise one each of NEBE, the contesting party/parties, the winning party/parties and an international observer.

During the field work of the CIPs, the opposition continued with the usual allegations/complaints about investigation rigging and their witnesses and members in the CIPs being barred, harassed, threatened and killed which, according to NEBE, have not been substantiated. It should be recalled that the Government or EPRDF had nothing to do with the killing in Gojam. In the most recent case, Wedu Delelegn, the deceased was neither a member of any party nor a witness of CUD and was killed in vengeance. It is sad that it has become a habit of CUD to consistently claim that persons killed for reasons that had absolutely nothing to do with election or politics are its members/witnesses when they are not. In the mean time the latest official results for 435 federal seats show that EPRDF with 241 is leading the combined CUD and UEDF seats with a comfortable margin of 82 heralding EPRDF as a winner. The margin works out to 103 with affiliate votes of 21. On the basis of this it is a foregone conclusion that the EPRDF will form the next government. As would be expected, however, CUD and UEDF rejected the results. We have to wait for results of the second round CIPs and the reports of the international observers. In the mean time, a statement by the Head of Delegation of the European Commission to Ethiopia revealed that “given the constraints in Ethiopia, the electoral board has done remarkable job in trying to bring the process to a satisfactory end” In regard to the opposition parties’ complaint on NEBE’s bias in favor of EPRDF, he said "I

don't have evidences to support that allegation.” In hind sight, the presence of international observers was a blessing in disguise for the election process.

It seems that there is no end to opposition making allegations and accusations. This would be the case if the whole electoral process were to be repeated as some have suggested. It would be a waste of resources and time which the poor country cannot afford. What did the opposition accomplish after all that hullabaloo, inflammatory politics, ethnic hate messages, incitement of violence and baseless election irregularities other than delay the announcement of the election outcome and the consequences thereof? The answer is a resounding loss of credibility and failure to pre-empt chaos and in the process to usurp power.

As per their plan to discredit the good intentions of the government, during the run-up to the election, CUD and UEDF, particularly the former, subjected the Ethiopian people and the world to endless screaming that “the election will not be free and fair” and threatened to boycott it. They contradicted themselves when their CUD leader guaranteed that they will win in spite of claim that “the election will not be free and fair.” Immediately following the casting of ballots they complained of ballot rigging, fraud, intimidation and violence, etc. Yes, there could have been and would be expected to be electoral irregularities in an election being conducted at such scale, over 25 million electorate, for the first time in a developing country such as Ethiopia. Overzealous and/or incapable elements may have contributed to the rigging. Many of the riggings could have been frivolous. The question is did the rigging play a decisive role in the complaining candidate not winning. As it turned out, most of the complaints were found to lack evidence and therefore discarded.

To hoodwink the voters (many of whom were duped) and the world, the opposition and the private media grossly exaggerated reporting isolated incidents as if they were rampant. Does the world not witness irregularities even in developed countries? The fact of the matter is that the opposition knew they were going to lose. They had to come up with the above strategy with a view to use it as scapegoat for their failure to garner the winning votes after making all that fuss. They had planned -- on the pretext of election irregularities -- to instigate unrest and violence with a view to usurp power through the backdoor. The strategy was to mobilize their voters by fooling them to believing that the incumbent government has cheated them. We all know what happened in contravention of the ban on the demonstration following the oppositions’ call for civil unrest/urban uprising. Regrettably, lives were lost and propertied destroyed because of their narrow-mindedness, highly unrealistic expectations, arrogance, lies, spreading highly inflammatory messages, ethnic hate and animosity, craving to settle old scores with TPLF, jealousy, etc. Despite the agreement reached with the help of the representative of the EU to peacefully accept the final result of the election, they continue to derail and threaten to incite unrest if things do not go their way.

The opposition parties’ and their cohorts’ obsession for power is so great that they would say and do anything to snatch it. There is no stone unturned in their attempt to topple the legitimate government and subsequently annul the constitution. Apparently, they do not care an iota of the dire consequences of their inflammatory statements and actions to the country and the people. For example, some of their members and their likes are so mean that, from day one of EPRDF rule, they have been conducting and continue to conduct hate campaign against the Tigrayans. These immature and pathological liars have been telling the people that all their wealth has been and is still being transferred to Tigray; Tigray is developing at the expense of the rest of the country; Tigray receives a disproportionate part of the country’s budget; etc. They are threatening and pressuring Tigrayans to condemn TPLF and EPRDF. In plain language they are saying “either you are with us or against us.” Consequences of this and other ethnic related blunders, targeted at Tigrayans and other nationalities could trigger inter-ethnic violence leading to the disintegration of the country. The most recent example of negative consequences of the chauvinistic behavior of the opposition is the formation of the Alliance of Oromo Political Organizations for Peace and Democracy with the same objective as that of OLF. This could strengthen the resolve of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), etc. It could renew the wounds inflicted on ethnic groups in the past that, thanks to the unity in diversity approach of EPRDF, had begun to heal. Please stop this madness and stupidity of using the ethnic factor for political gain.

The country enjoys the prevalence of peace and stability thanks to EPRDF’s ethnic-based federal structure, the best solution for a country comprising about 80 nationalities, not the cause of Ethiopian disunity as the opposition characterizes it to be and which the opposition intends to get rid of. Fortunately, this unifying system which is accepted by the majority of Ethiopians is irreversible. This being the case, the intolerant Diaspora’s aim to reclaim Ethiopian unity is meaningless, nonsense and absurd. Whether some like it or not it is a “fait accomplie.” The Front for the Forces of Oromo Struggle (FFOS), a recent merger of five Oromo political parties, says it all "We disagree with political parties that say ethnic based federalism has to be abolished.” The open letter of Ethiopian Somali Democratic Council in the Diaspora declares that “for the first in Ethiopian history, Ethiopian Somali and other ethnic group felt to be true Ethiopian…” The recent move of the ONLF asking for talks with the Ethiopian government can be attributed to the magnet of the ethnic-based federalism. From these and others it is clear that any move to tamper with the federal structure is very likely to provoke the non Amharas who benefit from and support the system to defend it; to resurrect separatist movements; and to ignite civil war with endless bloodshed. It is the realization of this real danger that the Ambassadors Donor Group’s statement said “All sides need to put the interests of Ethiopia first or the democratic progress this country has made in recent years could be lost.” The oppositions will be responsible for compromising the gains made and the inevitable disintegration of the country.

Blinded by lust for power, the oppositions and their cohorts claim that there is no democracy in Ethiopia ignoring the very fact that they are able to say and do what they are saying and doing because of it and thanks to the sacrifice made by EPRDF’s heroes and heroines. It is a fledgling democracy that has to be nurtured. It is unrealistic and unfair to evaluate it on the basis of the standards in developed countries where it took centuries to be what it is today. In Ethiopia, unlike other African countries, it has been and is evolving from the feudal system. This makes it more difficult and time consuming for any government to adopt and adapt democracy. The need for adaptation may not be that clear to the opposition. One cannot just copy cut Western democracy to apply to Ethiopian conditions and needs. It simply is not an overnight transition from feudal and communist regimes to democracy that opposition theoreticians would want us to believe. Considering this situation and the myriad of changes required to be made following the fall of the Derg, the incumbent government has done a good job in introducing democracy, maintaining peace and stability and achieving commendable development in the social and economic sectors. It is difficult to imagine any other party could have done any better under the prevailing difficult and complex circumstances. There is no denying that discipline and dedication of the leadership and its followers instilled during the armed struggle contributed to EPRDF’s success.

Whether one admits it or not it is a fact that many of the civil servants in the government which it inherited had been sabotaging the activities of the government. The oppositions and their supporters know this and have the audacity to deny the commendable achievements made despite the sabotage, deny the undeniable. They have the audacity to tell us the government has impoverished the country when the world knows it is the contrary. They are denying the assessment that “they [the Ethiopian government] are moving forward and they are on the right track” according to the donor community. The reckless and uncalled for confrontation instigated by the opposition parties regrettably ended in the loss of lives, destruction of property, inconveniences caused to Addis Ababans and negatively impacting the economy (business, investment, inflation, tourism, etc.) of the city and the country. Where will this coupled with hate politics of CUD’s leaders (Ato Hailu Ashawel, Professor Mesfin Woldemariam and others like them, such as Dr. Tilahun Yilma) targeted at Tigrayans, who disproportionately contributed to the downfall of the Derg, as well as in defending the country from Turkish, Mahdist, Egyptian and Italian aggressions (unlike those who sold Eritrea to the Italians) lead to? You, the reader, should be the judge. One thing though is clear. If confrontation is not halted on time progress in both democracy and development will suffer. In the worst scenario the fate of the country could retrograde to a situation worse than the Derg period and at the same time expose it to foreign aggressions.

The other negative consequence of the confrontation is loss of foreign aid, the risk of squandering the opportunity that was recently announced by the donor community. It is to be recalled that the government has built confidence and support of development partners with the result that aid, although still the lowest on a per capita basis, has dramatically increased in recent years. If the confrontation continues it is likely that donors will follow the lead of the British government which has already suspended additional aid – a measure supported by no other than the leader of CUD, Hailu Shawel, the aspiring future prime minister of Ethiopia. This is in line with the policy of the opposition parties and their vociferous Diaspora supporters who had been and are advocating of doing away with aid as well as debt cancellation. They say they can develop the country without foreign aid (self-reliance), a fantasy! Let alone desperately poor Ethiopia which is at the bottom rung among the poorest countries, many countries, such as Nigeria, which earn foreign currency in the billions of U.S. Dollars from exports do resort to the use of foreign aid. In contrast, Ethiopia’s export earning capacity is limited to hundreds of millions U.S. Dollars only. It did grow substantially in the last couple of years.

Unlike the opposition who pretend to be more catholic than the Pope, the donors understand the limitations of countries receiving aid. They are realists. They do not expect governments receiving aid to meet fully all their conditions for aid. What matters to them is making sustained effort and progress in meeting the conditions, including practicing democracy and good governance. The Ethiopian government has, apparently, been doing that. That is why the country has, in recent years, been receiving and continues to receive increasing aid. The recent violence orchestrated by CUD does, obviously, not bode well for more aid. By the way, those who accuse the government of misusing aid have never given a single example to support their malicious allegations. Donors do monitor the use of funds. Additional aid is conditional to the proper utilization of previous allocations. The accusation is tantamount to insulting the intelligence of the development partners whom the leader of CUD accused of naiveté.

The main objective and probably the only unifying factor in the formation of both coalitions (CUD and UEDF) comprising disparate parties was to oust the incumbent government. The first is for abolishing the federal system while the second is for maintaining it with more power for the regions than at present. Usually, the members composing an organization consist of persons (ranging from liberal to conservative) with some differences in the strategies/approaches they use to achieve the objective of their organization. Both CUD and AEUP are cases in point. The AEUP, one of the parties comprising CUD, exposed some of its high officials of some illegal activities and dictatorship. It suspended two of them and curtailed the power of Ato Hailu Shawel, its Chairman who is also the Chairman of CUD. During the CUD executive meeting of June 22, 2005, the then CUD spokesman Lidetu Ayalew who later resigned from his posts of the spokesperson and member of the Council of CUD, exposed the working of CUD by making the statement “We have to boycott the process by even citing lame excuses…this tactic would even help us to continue accusing the EPDRF of vote rigging and irregularities.” This, obviously, exposes the types and extent of deceitfultactics used by CUD throughout the pre- and post-election. With such undemocratic nature of CUD and its component members how can CUD’s leadership, which has been making a lot of noises about lack of democracy, claim to be more democratic than EPRDF when it cannot practice democracy within its own party? Does CUD, particularly its chairman, have the integrity, credential, capability and capacity to rule the country democratically? Apparently not.

Destructive Behavior of Elements in the Diaspora

Some elements in the Diaspora who live in tolerant societies in the West should have been preaching the virtue of tolerance in Ethiopia. They are, instead, doing what the Haile Fidas did to the Derg. They are emboldening and pressuring the opposition to go into a chaotic situation which could be the end of Ethiopia as a country. What is sad is the leaders of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido church in the Diaspora that seceded from the mother church on political ground are in the forefront of the despicable activities of the Diaspora. How can spiritual fathers join such forces of destruction instead of trying to bring peace between opposing parties?

The Ethiopian-Americans for Democracy’s letter to the US and EU Ambassadors to Ethiopia with copies to all European Ambassadors and many others is an appeal to intervene in the national affairs of Ethiopia. The letter is full of the same allegations and innuendos, mostly baseless, against the government that we have been bombarded with before, during and after the election. What the group and others do not seem to understand is that the Western embassies and through them their respective governments are better informed about happenings in Ethiopia than the Ethiopian Diaspora. Do some elements in the Diaspora really believe that the governments are fools to listen to their misinformation and neglect the unbiased information of their representatives in Ethiopia? That this cannot be is indicated in the US/EU Joint Declaration “to renounce all violence, ethnic hate messages via the media or Internet, and any other action that is likely to further increase tension in Ethiopia.” It is quit apparent that the declaration is mainly addressed to the opposition. It is unfortunate that the elements who have been lobbying and conducting public rallies of misinformation in the Western countries before and following the election, including politicizing the annual football event in North America, will have collateral damage in that their misinformation could end up confusing the innocent people of Ethiopia. Their inflammatory slogans and placards and the highly exaggerated reports about the success of their rallies are meant to ignite insurrection with a view to grab power via remote control.

Of course, what happens in Ethiopia does not affect the vociferous Diaspora and their families being far away from the scene. Obviously, they have no conscience and do not care what could happen to Ethiopia and Ethiopians. If they had conscience, it would have been evident from the help they could have provided to alleviate abject poverty and the suffering from drought and HIV/AIDS, etc. – virtually none except a few patriotic ones. On the contrary they have done their best in misinforming other Diaspora Ethiopians not to contribute to the development of Ethiopia simply because development means credit to the government. It should be noted here that the protest demonstrations were and will be organized with a hidden agenda – creating photo and vocal evidences for many to use in obtaining green cards and their equivalents in Western countries. Despite this, it is an open secret that Ethiopians who participate in such rallies (except those who committed crime during the Derg period), can enter and leave Ethiopia without any problem. This applies to demonstrators and opposition members in Ethiopia where passports are issued within three days of request. The embassies in Addis Ababa know this and the fact that there is no fear of persecution in Ethiopia for being an active member of the opposition. Because of these facts and budding democracy, Ethiopians in the Diaspora are finding it

increasingly difficult to justify obtaining residential status in the Western countries in which they reside.

As we all know the opposition parties and their Diaspora supporters have been and are still unashamedly begging donors to stop giving aid to Ethiopia. Statements recently made by CUD officials in Western capitals confirm this. It should be noted here that depriving the country of foreign aid is condemning the people to continuing in worsening perpetual abject poverty. Sustainable aid could help the poor to get started faster on the road to self-reliance. Farmers are too poor to get started on their own. Thanks to government’s focus on the rural area and the support of donors, increasing number of farmers are attaining food self-sufficiency and substantially improving their standard of living, thereby contributing and enhancing the attainment of the government’s food security program. The rich Ethiopian-Americans, such as Solomon Bekele, would rather waste their wealth to instigate inter-ethnic conflicts that will surely lead the people to slide into deeper and deeper abyss of deprivation.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the negative aspect of the current election is regrettable. It has divided the people. It has brought out the true nature, bestiality, of groups and individuals. The vociferous are blinded. They cannot see far beyond their noses. They do not hesitate to do anything and to go to any length to accomplish their objectives. It is frightening. The country is in danger. Let us hope that truth will triumph. Let us hope that the nightmare

we have witnessed in regard to the election is the first and last experience. Let us hope that normality will prevail as soon as the final results of the election are announced, as is normal in democratic countries. Let us hope what we witnessed is a blessing in disguise in that we will come to our senses and do the right thing in the best interest of the people. Let us hope we have learnt some lessons, especially the dire need for cultivating the culture of tolerance and accommodation. Continuous peace and stability are badly needed to maintain the development momentum leading to the take-off stage in the country. To interrupt this trend will be suicidal.

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For more details please refer to the following links:

www.aigaforum.com/mathza0403.htm

www.aigaforum.com/mathza0404.htm

Home

You are abusing Andrew’s message board to spread your propaganda. Ethiopian people have seen what Meles has done. They have been living with intimidation and fear for the last fifteen years. Ethiopians have voted for the opposition party. Meles has lost the election. He needs to go peacefully and hand the leadership to the winning team. Don’t deny Ethiopian people their rights.

Mathza (or whoever you are),

you are blogging on a comment section. Very inappropriate and counter-productive. I don't think the intent of Meskelsquare.com is to be abused as such. Unlike you, there are many others who are interested in what the author (Andrew Heavens) has to say about anything he wishes to say. Go create your own forum.

Tyrel

Mathza (or whoever you are),

you are blogging on a comment section. Very inappropriate and counter-productive. I don't think the intent of Meskelsquare.com is to be abused as such. Unlike you, there are many others who are interested in what the author (Andrew Heavens) has to say about anything he wishes to say. Go create your own forum.

Tyrel

Dear Sir,
Do us a favour. screen the comments and don't display the ones that are uh-- trash.

Usually I consider my self as someone who does not jump to conclusion before considering all the relevant facts. But I didn't even bother to read Mathza's 'blogspot' after the first two or three lines because it is like s--- or you name it.For all the other future bloggers to this spot please do not follow Mathza's bad and crazy example which offends every side because I am myself a supporter of EPRDF.

DK stop lying. You are a chavinistic Amhara. You are not EPRDF. Mathza scares your pants off. That is why you do not want anyone to read him.

DK is not a liar.He is a courageous insider who dare to say the truth.

DK is a chvanistic Amhara baby cry. Mathza is an intellegent man who scares this lazy bum. End of story

Is DK a chvanistic or chauvinistic Amhara?