By Yilma Bekele | April 22, 2010
I am sure most of you have heard or read that the leaders of Medrek are on a tour of North America. They have held town hall meetings in Seattle, San Jose, Las Vegas, Washington DC and Atlanta and are coming to Los Angles this coming weekend. The delegation consists of Ato Seye Abreha, Ato Gebru Asrat, Dr. Negasso Gidada and Engineer Gezachew Shiferaw. All four gentlemen were former members of TPLF, OPDO or AEUP.
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The past of Seye Abraha et al in perspective
By Eskinder Nega | April 16, 2010
Seye Abraha’s commanding presence and well delivered speech on foreign affairs in last week’s televised debate between political parties has vexed EPRDF leaders, say sources. Their only solace is Seye’s rather brash characterization of the recent row between the EPRDF and the Obama administration as “staged drama”; which went down well with the public but will hardly endear the opposition with the diplomatic community in Addis.
“The row between the Ethiopian government and the US,” said Seye in the debate, “is really a staged drama. America has outsourced its war in Somalia to Ethiopia, saving American lives. That is what matters to them the most. The jamming of the VOA and the consequent row are no more than a staged drama. Ethiopians have not only died in Somalia for a war that is not theirs but our national security has been endangered as well.
There are reports, for example, that the Ethiopian Airlines that crushed in Lebanon was bombed by terrorists.”(Abridged.) But of course Seye could not offer real evidence that the spate was faked as he had alleged, and it will remain a stain on his otherwise impressive performance; the best so far, reckon many pundits, by the opposition.
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Genet Mersha, 17 November 2009
It is several months now since Medrek, the Forum for Democracy and Dialogue (FDD), has made public its minimum programme (MP), which this writer got hold of on tecolahagos.com. I had hoped to comment on their MP, which to my mind has many strong positions, much as many weaknesses, especially with respect to the rule of law, its advocacy of a role for parliament no different from the present, balance of powers issues and some of its proposals pertaining to the economic sector.
In an unfortunate turn of events, however, news sources reported early on not only about Medrek’s refusal to join the four-party negotiations, but also its subsequent dissociation from the code of conduct for the 2010 election, signed early this month between the ruling party and three others. As it appears now, Medrek is the only political party that is puzzled by the agreement. It rejects it as sneaky and prepared by the ruling party in collusion with parties whose leaders it sees as associates of its primary opponent.
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By Robele Ababya | April 21, 2010
This piece, which is written without fear or soliciting favor, is prompted by the recent slur on Seye Abraha et al and by extension a veiled attack on Medrek with a motive to divide it, which is unfortunate at this time when unity of opposition forces against tyrant Meles is needed more than ever. The attack on Medrek and its popular leaders at this time is a much needed respite for TPLF, which is running out of ideas and therefore doomed to die at the polls. This writer listened to the interview given by Tesfaye Gebreab to ECADF. Some of the accusations labeled against Seye by the author of Yederaseew Mastawesha, among others, makes one wonder whether he is a victim of the contagious lies his former TPLF bosses infected him with for their political expediency.
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Genet Mersha | 5 March 2010
The stage for this article was set by two events. Firstly, at the forefront triggering the writing was the second round inter-party debate of March 2nd in preparation for the May 23rd national election. Secondly, coincidentally in the background was The Democracy Paradox (Project Syndicate Sept 14, 2009), an article by Dominique Moisi, a respected French commentator on international issues and visiting professor at Harvard University that I read moments before watching the debate on video.
Prof. Moisi engages his readers in a conversation with a view to enabling them see the potential divorce between elections and democracy that is assuming a new dimension in a globalized world. Much as he has made reference to improved techniques in election rigging and stealing that despots employ these days, he also admonishes “the West to reassess its policies in a fundamental way.” He urges Western countries to see that they cannot switch as they like “from ‘activism’ at one moment to abstention the next.”
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By Barry Malone I April 22, 2010
An Ethiopian opposition activist has been bludgeoned to death with a gun butt in the second politically motivated murder in the run-up to national elections on May 23, an opposition leader said on Thursday.
Bulcha Demeksa, a leader of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), told Reuters the activist, Biyansa Daba, was attacked at home by members of the ruling party.
"Biyansa Daba was beaten on April 7 with the butt of a gun," Bulcha said. "He died in hospital on April 16. He was a very strong up and coming figure."
"Of course it was political," Bulcha said. "They asked him to stop converting people to OFC, they warned him many times. Why else would anyone beat him?"
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By Genet Mersha, April 21, 2010
PART I
In his opening salvo in Debate # Six, Arkebe Oqubay began by portraying all opposition parties as traitors. He used the following words to accuse them of such a heinous crime: “For eighteen years, opposition parties have tried to masquerade as patriots, without being what they say they are. They falsely capitalised on the sovereignty issue, when in reality they have only been serving foreign interests” [writer’s translation]. Since this charge is very serious, the question is why to this day they have not been tried and sentenced. Also, if that is true, how would the governing party justify its contention for power with traitors and criminals, it has accused in public?
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April 20, 2010
Atlanta, Georgia: A high level delegation of Medrek, a coalition of eight political parties, stated last Saturday in Atlanta that the party is striving to develop and nurture a new political culture in the life of Ethiopian political arena—a culture based on the principles of co-existence and the ability to accommodate each other’s opposing views.
Members of the delegation who are currently on a working tour in North America arrived in Atlanta on Thursday April 15, 2010 and addressing the Atlanta community explained at length the prime objective and mission of one year old Medrek. The high level Medrek delegation includes engineer Gizachew Shiferaw, assistant president of Andinet party, Dr. Negasso Gidada, the ex- president of Ethiopia and Ato Gebru Asrat, former member of TPLf and former Chief Administrator of Tigrai region.
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Medrek leaders address audience in San Jose
April 16, 2010
Medrek Senior Officials, Engineer Gizahew Shiferaw, Ato Gebru Asrat and Dr. Negasso Gidada, were received by hopeful Ethiopians, who want to see a pragmatic opposition party in Ethiopia, at the meeting they held in San Jose, California on April 11, 2010. They racked their audience with huge enthusiasm. Kudos for them for delivering their message of hope that there is still another chance to bring democracy in Ethiopia! New faces from different ethnic groups have attended the meeting. It was encouraging for Medrek leaders to see Ethiopians from different parts of the country starting to discuss their issues in one room. From the scene of the meeting one can say that unity of the people is within reach.
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April 19th,2010
“There are lies, lies and implausible lies,” to quote Meles Zenawi, the dictator-cum-economic spinmeister of Ethiopia. Last week, Zenawi told a snickering Parliament a story that is the equivalent of the proverbial bull that gave birth to a calf (or in Amharic “bere welede”): “We will be seeing an economic growth rate of 10.1 percent this year, while inflation will fall to 3.9 percent. This is the result of sound economic policy." (Sorry, but this is the result of voodoo economics!)
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