Ethiopia:The Timret and OLF meeting in Canada and its message

by Kirubeal Bekele

The Timret/OLF meeting in Canada shades some light about the recent joint press release made by 11 political and civil organizations. One swift move of this joint effort is that these organizations have set up a coordinating committee that will organize and mobilize this concerted attempt. And many of us have received this news with a standing ovation.

And we have a good reason for it. Such attempts have been made many times in the last 20 years. However, to the delight of TPLF, all of them have failed miserably. But this time, we are all optimistic that this new venture will hopefully work. So the million dollar question is to accurately figure out what we have to do to make it work this time.

We all know the opportunity that has presented itself in Ethiopia today where TPLF is shaken to the core even as we speak. It has lost its ring leader, dictator Zenawi, who died on July 15, 2012 in Brussels. As it always happens, when a dictator dies, a big power vacuum is created and this is evident in Ethiopia today. We don’t know where it finally leads. But one thing we do know is that it has created once in a life time opportunity for the democratic opposition to take advantage of the situation.

But there is another important part of the equation that should be considered if this favorable situation can be exploited to bring real change in Ethiopia. The question we need to ask honestly and seriously is this, ”Is the democratic opposition ready to grab this chance now?” The simple but disappointing answer is NO. If the opposition had been ready, it would have already exploited this favorable condition in Ethiopia turning it into a nationwide successful revolution. Unfortunately, it did not happen. But this does not mean the opportunity is lost. There is still a fair chance for freedom and democracy in Ethiopia. If the opposition makes a drastic move and work together like a well oiled machine, it can catch up with it and bring it to a successful conclusion. But how can the opposition accomplish this task quickly and not repeat its history of failures as demonstrated in the past?

To begin with, it is very important to ask why all of our previous efforts failed. Doing this will help us not to blow up this new challenge that is now underway. And we don’t want to be disappointed yet over again. One of the age old problems that contributed to the failure of earlier efforts is that many of the stakeholders like their organizations more than the good of the country.

We have witnessed many times how many organizations chose to save their organizations but ditched their country. Most seem to be unaware of the fact that their organizations cannot exist without a country. They have confused their priorities. An organization is just a means for the sacred objective of rescuing their country. Organizations come and go but we have a country to save in a hurry. We should be willing to compromise for the good of the country even if an idea does not fit our organizational goals at the moment. In the past many years, when an organization saw something it did not like or agree, the easy thing to do was to run for the door and to leave the coalition.

The second reason is the destructive thinking that if I don’t cook it, then it does not taste right mentality. In other words, they were sticking to the motto of “my way or the highway.” No matter what happens at the negotiating table, they refuse to persuade others or be convinced themselves. If an idea is somewhat different from what they are expecting, then they are out of the union. What they are telling to others is to follow and support their position, if we expect cooperation from them despite a majority decision. Stakeholders with this type of problem are a threat to the union of the democratic opposition. They don’t have the culture of accepting and following others who may have shown some success though not significant compared to what is needed to remove TPLF out of power.

It is important to give the benefit of doubt to anyone individual or organization who has shown some level of success at least conditionally. We can’t all be leaders. We should be willing to follow a successful leadership demonstrated by results. Let us be either a good leader or a great follower. We can’t be both. And we can’t all be leaders either. If we can’t understand this naked fact, we should be kind enough to stay out of the way for the sake of the country. The third issue is the problem of emotionalism where most of us seem to be stuck in our good feelings for our country.

If we don’t put this in practice, it will become only hot air. What we need to do now is to change our feelings into practical actions. Most of us are lip-singing but when it comes to actually doing, we are nowhere to be found. This is the most challenging problem not only for opposition organizations but also for all of us wanting to support these organizations.

After all, organizations are a collection of individuals who carry these same negative tendencies with them into the joint effort. This kind of empty emotionalism will cripple the joint effort and it will turn it into a hopeless debating society instead of an instrument for bold action. As time passes without any visible development, the support of the people will erode. This creates discontent within these organizations and the blame game starts followed by a war within and eventually leading to its inevitable collapse.

Consequently, stakeholders in this new joint effort should take their work seriously. Each one of them should be responsible for delivering and bringing something tangible to the table not only in the Diaspora but especially in Ethiopia as well. Each of them should have a specific responsibility that is reasonable, realistic, challenging but attainable on the battleground in Ethiopia itself. This should be their first priority, if this joint effort is to work and be sustainable in the future.

This coming together is a good starter but it is of little use if all the stakeholders don’t work independently as well as aggressively with a given objective in mind. In short, we need to see results within a reasonable time frame. For instance, it can be a formidable diplomatic victory that put a financial squeeze on TPLF. Or a no small display of armed resistance against TPLF on the ground. Or a successful work in convincing and mobilizing the people especially the youth in Ethiopia to the extent of joining armed resistance groups. Or coming up with a great plan, whatever that is, to get the financial resources by any means necessary to fund the struggle against TPLF that has a lot of our resources at its disposal and armed to the teeth.

Finally, it is essential to stress the fact that the success or failure of this recent joint effort by the democratic opposition does not necessarily depend only on the stakeholder organizations. It also depends on us who have the obligation to help and support these organizations. If we don’t, the organizations can’t do anything. Their hands will be tied for lack of support from us. We, the people, can’t just sit and wait for these organizations to save us from TPLF. Such a miracle can be expected only from God, as we are witnessing at this time, as God is smashing the top TPLF gangs one after the other.

But we should not expect such a miracle from these organizations. They are all humans like all of us except they are more committed and are willing to sacrifice their money, family time, and even their lives for our country. Without our active involvement, nothing happens. Nothing. If we don’t actively support them, we have no right to complain. In fact, if this joint effort fails for lack of our support, we and not they are responsible for the failure. So, we the people must do our part first in order to give these organizations the opportunity to do their share. Then, only then, we have the full right as well as the privilege to put the blame entirely on them.

What is our share to make this joint effort successful? Let us see if we answer the following questions. If our answer is yes for most questions, it means we have at least met most of our responsibilities.

1) How many of us are giving money and our skills on a consistent basis to these organizations who are working hard to implant the struggle on the ground in Ethiopia?

2) How many of us are ready to contribute on the diplomatic front here in the Diaspora?

3) How many of us have contacts in Ethiopia with the youth, it can be a family member or a relative or a friend, that we can influence and convince so that they come in contact with these organizations for various duties by joining the democratic opposition legally as well as underground? How can we stop the exodus of the youth out of the country by providing an alternative channel such as joining the opposition including the resistance groups? How many of us are willing to join the struggle on the ground in Ethiopia if we are able and healthy enough to do so like the Syrian, Egyptian, and Libyan immigrants exiled from the Middle East?

4) How many of us are working in our local neighborhoods and communities to mobilize and secure financial, political, and diplomatic support for the democratic opposition?

5) How many of us are actively supporting ESAT financially on a monthly basis as we witness on a daily basis as ESAT demonstrates itself in action with such bravery and determination?

6) What are the opposition websites in the Diaspora doing to enhance and help create the awareness necessary to support this new joint effort? Have they given a spot on their websites for this mission? Or do they have other priorities like not losing an advertising space?

There are more questions. But if most of us answer yes at least to four of the questions, we are on the right track. And the responsibility will then be on the stakeholder organizations to produce results. But I am afraid this might not be the case at this point. A lot of work is expected from us for this joint effort to work. If we don’t do our share of the duty, there is no doubt this effort will be at risk of failing. Again!

Last but not least, what is our answer to Malcolm’s question, “Are you a man?” If we are, let us prove it by just taking our freedom.

Please click the following link to hear the Timret/OLF meeting in Canada to hear these critical points raised by Captain Teshome Tenkolu, Ato Tadele Worku from OLF, and Ato Neamin Zeleke from Timret. http://youtu.be/m_ndB91hRuE