Interesting! I have got new personal and political program to stop writing in the cyberworld. But Gadaa.com, OromiaTimes.com and VoiceOfOromia.com are driving me crazy to never stop writing. Yesterday Gadaa.com came out with an interesting short comment: “An Alliance of Necessity: Last Ditch Effort to Save the Crumbling Empire” and it put on the Featured part of the website the following opinion originally posted by JimmaTimes:
“Meles planning to replace UDJ with a puppet UDJ! Meles is planning to replace the real UDJ with a pro-Govt UDJ faction, possibly the one led by Prof. Mesfin. The aging Professor Mesfin is being assisted by the state media ETV. He believes closing the gap between opposition parties and uniting all opposition parties under one “MEDREK” umbrella will give more influence to supporters of “group rights” ideology over “individual rights” ideology. Thus Prof. Mesfin has officially joined the Lidetu Ayalew camp by attacking any opposition coalition that wants to remove Meles Zenawi. Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) leaders said the incumbent Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) is conspiring against the survival of its main rival UDJ by supporting intra-party cracks which may lead to violence.”
The above opinion of Gadaa.com and the one published on JimmaTimes made me to think over the possible reason for the current quasi-alliance between unitarists like Hailu Shawel, Mesfin Wolde-Mariam, Taye Wolde-Semayat and Lidetu Ayalew with the hegemonist Meles Zenawi against the federalist coalition, MEDREK, and against the unionist future TIBIBIR (new AFD), which definitely will be forged by the freedom movements like G-7, OLF, ONLF, etc. What are the ideological differences between the four blocks mentioned in the title of this article? Let me put it in short as follows:
- UNITARISTS do demonize the right of nations to self-administration and to self-determination as something “goosa or ethnic politics”. They still dream to bring back the old Ethiopia in which all nations will be assimilated to Amharic speakers. To them, it is “something natural” to claim Amharic to be a national language of Ethiopia and all other languages to be subordinates. Thinking otherwise, to make Oromic a national language and to demote Amharic to a regional language is, for them, like committing a crime.. They, of course, still tell us the “nationalities will have the right to develop their language.” For unitarists, allowing certain songs of different languages in their Amharic-dominated media is enough. That is why they still work in Amharic and allow few Oromic songs to be transmitted in their media. They never dare to work in Oromic.
- HEGEMONISTS just give only lip service for everything good including to freedom, democracy and the right of nations to “self-determination up to independence,” but they diligently work for their own dominance in the empire. For them, what matters is only their power and profit. As far as any movement does not challenge these two, they allow it to function in the empire. The moment any movement opposes their power and their amassing of profit, it will be called “anti-peace” and be eliminated.
- FEDERALISTS in a form of Medrek seem to be the hope of nations in the near future. They struggle for a union of federated nations in the region called Ethiopia. Their democratic move is the anti-thesis of the dictatorial unitarists and dictatorial hegemonists described above. Their vision of forging and keeping the union in which collective rights of all nations and nationalities as well as their wish of promoting the individual rights of all citizens in all national areas of the federation is very exemplary even for all African region-states, formed by the colonialists, to follow in the future to liberate their respective nations and nationalities in the context of the respective colonially-constructed boundaries. The only thing what the federalists lack is the gut to push for self-determination of nations per referendum. This is their difference with the far-sighted unionists, who want to accomplish the lasting solution for the troubled region.
- UNIONISTS are the solution for the far future in comparison to the federalists who are only good for the near future. The troubled region called Ethiopia or the Horn of Africa needs a meticulous and long-lasting solution for all the mess it has because of the divisions done based on the colonial past. All the conflicts in the Horn are the results as a colonial legacy. The conflict between Eritrea and Tigai (Ethiopia), between Djibouti and Eritrean Afar (Eritrea), between Abyssinia and Oromia, between Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and Somalia, as well as even between Somaliland and Somalia, etc are the troubles originally caused by the colonial divisions. Now, the unionists want to get rid of this legacy and they are planning ALL-inclusive solution for the region. Their goal is beyond that of the federalists. They want to move from the status quo, i.e. from the Unity of Dominated Nations (UDN) in Ethiopia through the Union of Federated Nations (UFN) envisioned by the federalists to the lasting END-destiny, a Union of Liberated Nations (ULN) in the region called the Horn of Africa.
When we look at the comments of Gadaa.com and the post by JimmaTimes, it is not surprising to observe that the conservative unitarists are now rallying behind the hegemonist Meles Zenawi, where they are trying to hinder the Oromo movement, which seems to proceed first to self-administration in a form of true Kilil federation, which is the vision of Medrek and then a further move to self-determination in a form of a union between liberated nations, which is the goal of AFD. Both the unitarists and the hegemonists are in a great fear of losing both their power and their empire to the democratic federalists in Medrek and the democratic unionists in AFD. The political evolution/revolution in the empire was/is/will be as follows: from the rule of the past dictatorial unitarists —— through the present dictatorial hegemonists —— to the near future democratic federalists —— and then further to the far future democratic unionists as the END goal. Specially, Gadaa.com did hit the head of the nail: it is the “alliance of necessity” between those forces which do want to maintain the hitherto unity of dominated nations in the empire. It is very scary for the unitarists and hegemonists to look at the currently coordinated move of all nations represented in Medrek to forge first a union of federated nations as a mid-goal towards the vision of AFD, i.e a union of liberated nations as the END-goal. Let the unitarists and hegemonists build whatever alliance they can, but they surely be never in a position to hinder the forward movement of all nations to their END-goal, however long it may take.
Interestingly, the internationally famous journal, the Economist under economist.com published the following progress about East African Community (EAC):
“East Africa’s common market, it really may happen. The region’s leaders take another step towards building a common market. FREE-TRADE fingers crossed, some time this summer goods should start being sold without tariffs across borders within the five countries of the East African Community (EAC). The new common market will take in 130m-plus people in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The next step is monetary union, with political federation a far remoter prospect. The agreement signed last year at the EAC’s headquarters in the Tanzanian city of Arusha was a first step. Optimists say the EAC should join free-trade blocks in southern and western Africa before 2030. The EAC is working off a small base. Its combined GDP of $75 billion is a sixth of Belgium’s. But scrapping tariffs should boost regional trade and improve competitiveness. The EAC should be better placed to trade with Congo, Ethiopia and Sudan. And if it can build its own wider manufacturing base, its goods may start to compete with cheap stuff from China. Kenya, which has the region’s strongest manufacturers, retailers and banks, is sure to gain most. But for the EAC to succeed, others must win too. Rwanda and Burundi should benefit from cheaper and quicker transport of goods to and from the ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam. Uganda is well placed to expand its agriculture for export. Tanzania is less certain to gain. It wants to keep some taxes on goods from Kenya. And it is wary of the free movement of labour, fearing that, in many professions, pushier and better-educated Kenyans will come and snatch plum jobs. Faustin Mbundu, a Rwandan who chairs the East African Business Council, says the real benefits of the common market will accrue only with more and better roads, railways and power stations. Some say a new capital for the EAC must be built from scratch, perhaps on a shore of Lake Victoria, with a new international airport to match Nairobi’s. But simpler things will be needed a lot sooner. For instance, border crossings will have to be kept open at night. Mr Mbundu wants to end the scourge of informal police checkpoints. Above all, the governments will have to avoid policy reversals that pander to their own industries, a tendency that has hitherto stood in the way of a proper common market.”
Of course, I did write in one of my past articles that the move of EAC can be a very good example for the vision of the unionists in forging the far future union of liberated nations in the Horn. One of the die-hard unitarist websites, AbbayMedia.com, wrote the following comment regarding the above current move of EAC:
“Abbay Media Editor’s Note: While TPLF is busy dividing us as a nation and selling off our lands, our neighbors are moving ahead with the modern times. TPLF should look no further than our neighbors to see how much backward and outdated its methods and policies are. Also on the same token, the Ethiopian people will soon have a good local example to refer to when debating on the future of our nation after the demise of TPLF.”
Here, we see how the unitarists do accuse the hegemonist TPLF. For the position of the unitarits, TPLF as a hegemonist party went too far for allowing even the fake ethnic federation. They still dream to rewind the political evolution/revolution now happening in the Horn back to a unitary Ethiopia. For them, the fake federalists aka the hegemonists are better than the forward pushing genuine federalists and the radical unionists. That is why they opt to save the hegemonist Weyane from being overtaken by the federalist Medrek. Unitarists like it or not, we, all nations in the empire, want to move forward from the present fake federation through the true federation planned by Medrek to the lasting union of liberated nations envisioned by AFD, but never backward to the unitary Ethiopian empire. The current “limimix poletika” of the unitarists in relation to the hegemonists can never save the crumbling empire for all freedom fighters and all democratic forces are now trying to come together under Medrek and under the future Tibibir to forge the effective and efficient alliance against the present fascist regime in Ethiopia and to build a common home for all nations and citizens in a form of a federation in Ethiopia or a union in the Horn, but never a region-state in the form of unitary Ethiopia.
Galatooma and Adieu!
“Meles planning to replace UDJ with a puppet UDJ! Meles is planning to replace the real UDJ with a pro-Govt UDJ faction, possibly the one led by Prof. Mesfin. The aging Professor Mesfin is being assisted by the state media ETV. He believes closing the gap between opposition parties and uniting all opposition parties under one “MEDREK” umbrella will give more influence to supporters of “group rights” ideology over “individual rights” ideology. Thus Prof. Mesfin has officially joined the Lidetu Ayalew camp by attacking any opposition coalition that wants to remove Meles Zenawi. Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) leaders said the incumbent Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) is conspiring against the survival of its main rival UDJ by supporting intra-party cracks which may lead to violence.”
The above opinion of Gadaa.com and the one published on JimmaTimes made me to think over the possible reason for the current quasi-alliance between unitarists like Hailu Shawel, Mesfin Wolde-Mariam, Taye Wolde-Semayat and Lidetu Ayalew with the hegemonist Meles Zenawi against the federalist coalition, MEDREK, and against the unionist future TIBIBIR (new AFD), which definitely will be forged by the freedom movements like G-7, OLF, ONLF, etc. What are the ideological differences between the four blocks mentioned in the title of this article? Let me put it in short as follows:
- UNITARISTS do demonize the right of nations to self-administration and to self-determination as something “goosa or ethnic politics”. They still dream to bring back the old Ethiopia in which all nations will be assimilated to Amharic speakers. To them, it is “something natural” to claim Amharic to be a national language of Ethiopia and all other languages to be subordinates. Thinking otherwise, to make Oromic a national language and to demote Amharic to a regional language is, for them, like committing a crime.. They, of course, still tell us the “nationalities will have the right to develop their language.” For unitarists, allowing certain songs of different languages in their Amharic-dominated media is enough. That is why they still work in Amharic and allow few Oromic songs to be transmitted in their media. They never dare to work in Oromic.
- HEGEMONISTS just give only lip service for everything good including to freedom, democracy and the right of nations to “self-determination up to independence,” but they diligently work for their own dominance in the empire. For them, what matters is only their power and profit. As far as any movement does not challenge these two, they allow it to function in the empire. The moment any movement opposes their power and their amassing of profit, it will be called “anti-peace” and be eliminated.
- FEDERALISTS in a form of Medrek seem to be the hope of nations in the near future. They struggle for a union of federated nations in the region called Ethiopia. Their democratic move is the anti-thesis of the dictatorial unitarists and dictatorial hegemonists described above. Their vision of forging and keeping the union in which collective rights of all nations and nationalities as well as their wish of promoting the individual rights of all citizens in all national areas of the federation is very exemplary even for all African region-states, formed by the colonialists, to follow in the future to liberate their respective nations and nationalities in the context of the respective colonially-constructed boundaries. The only thing what the federalists lack is the gut to push for self-determination of nations per referendum. This is their difference with the far-sighted unionists, who want to accomplish the lasting solution for the troubled region.
- UNIONISTS are the solution for the far future in comparison to the federalists who are only good for the near future. The troubled region called Ethiopia or the Horn of Africa needs a meticulous and long-lasting solution for all the mess it has because of the divisions done based on the colonial past. All the conflicts in the Horn are the results as a colonial legacy. The conflict between Eritrea and Tigai (Ethiopia), between Djibouti and Eritrean Afar (Eritrea), between Abyssinia and Oromia, between Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and Somalia, as well as even between Somaliland and Somalia, etc are the troubles originally caused by the colonial divisions. Now, the unionists want to get rid of this legacy and they are planning ALL-inclusive solution for the region. Their goal is beyond that of the federalists. They want to move from the status quo, i.e. from the Unity of Dominated Nations (UDN) in Ethiopia through the Union of Federated Nations (UFN) envisioned by the federalists to the lasting END-destiny, a Union of Liberated Nations (ULN) in the region called the Horn of Africa.
When we look at the comments of Gadaa.com and the post by JimmaTimes, it is not surprising to observe that the conservative unitarists are now rallying behind the hegemonist Meles Zenawi, where they are trying to hinder the Oromo movement, which seems to proceed first to self-administration in a form of true Kilil federation, which is the vision of Medrek and then a further move to self-determination in a form of a union between liberated nations, which is the goal of AFD. Both the unitarists and the hegemonists are in a great fear of losing both their power and their empire to the democratic federalists in Medrek and the democratic unionists in AFD. The political evolution/revolution in the empire was/is/will be as follows: from the rule of the past dictatorial unitarists —— through the present dictatorial hegemonists —— to the near future democratic federalists —— and then further to the far future democratic unionists as the END goal. Specially, Gadaa.com did hit the head of the nail: it is the “alliance of necessity” between those forces which do want to maintain the hitherto unity of dominated nations in the empire. It is very scary for the unitarists and hegemonists to look at the currently coordinated move of all nations represented in Medrek to forge first a union of federated nations as a mid-goal towards the vision of AFD, i.e a union of liberated nations as the END-goal. Let the unitarists and hegemonists build whatever alliance they can, but they surely be never in a position to hinder the forward movement of all nations to their END-goal, however long it may take.
Interestingly, the internationally famous journal, the Economist under economist.com published the following progress about East African Community (EAC):
“East Africa’s common market, it really may happen. The region’s leaders take another step towards building a common market. FREE-TRADE fingers crossed, some time this summer goods should start being sold without tariffs across borders within the five countries of the East African Community (EAC). The new common market will take in 130m-plus people in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The next step is monetary union, with political federation a far remoter prospect. The agreement signed last year at the EAC’s headquarters in the Tanzanian city of Arusha was a first step. Optimists say the EAC should join free-trade blocks in southern and western Africa before 2030. The EAC is working off a small base. Its combined GDP of $75 billion is a sixth of Belgium’s. But scrapping tariffs should boost regional trade and improve competitiveness. The EAC should be better placed to trade with Congo, Ethiopia and Sudan. And if it can build its own wider manufacturing base, its goods may start to compete with cheap stuff from China. Kenya, which has the region’s strongest manufacturers, retailers and banks, is sure to gain most. But for the EAC to succeed, others must win too. Rwanda and Burundi should benefit from cheaper and quicker transport of goods to and from the ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam. Uganda is well placed to expand its agriculture for export. Tanzania is less certain to gain. It wants to keep some taxes on goods from Kenya. And it is wary of the free movement of labour, fearing that, in many professions, pushier and better-educated Kenyans will come and snatch plum jobs. Faustin Mbundu, a Rwandan who chairs the East African Business Council, says the real benefits of the common market will accrue only with more and better roads, railways and power stations. Some say a new capital for the EAC must be built from scratch, perhaps on a shore of Lake Victoria, with a new international airport to match Nairobi’s. But simpler things will be needed a lot sooner. For instance, border crossings will have to be kept open at night. Mr Mbundu wants to end the scourge of informal police checkpoints. Above all, the governments will have to avoid policy reversals that pander to their own industries, a tendency that has hitherto stood in the way of a proper common market.”
Of course, I did write in one of my past articles that the move of EAC can be a very good example for the vision of the unionists in forging the far future union of liberated nations in the Horn. One of the die-hard unitarist websites, AbbayMedia.com, wrote the following comment regarding the above current move of EAC:
“Abbay Media Editor’s Note: While TPLF is busy dividing us as a nation and selling off our lands, our neighbors are moving ahead with the modern times. TPLF should look no further than our neighbors to see how much backward and outdated its methods and policies are. Also on the same token, the Ethiopian people will soon have a good local example to refer to when debating on the future of our nation after the demise of TPLF.”
Here, we see how the unitarists do accuse the hegemonist TPLF. For the position of the unitarits, TPLF as a hegemonist party went too far for allowing even the fake ethnic federation. They still dream to rewind the political evolution/revolution now happening in the Horn back to a unitary Ethiopia. For them, the fake federalists aka the hegemonists are better than the forward pushing genuine federalists and the radical unionists. That is why they opt to save the hegemonist Weyane from being overtaken by the federalist Medrek. Unitarists like it or not, we, all nations in the empire, want to move forward from the present fake federation through the true federation planned by Medrek to the lasting union of liberated nations envisioned by AFD, but never backward to the unitary Ethiopian empire. The current “limimix poletika” of the unitarists in relation to the hegemonists can never save the crumbling empire for all freedom fighters and all democratic forces are now trying to come together under Medrek and under the future Tibibir to forge the effective and efficient alliance against the present fascist regime in Ethiopia and to build a common home for all nations and citizens in a form of a federation in Ethiopia or a union in the Horn, but never a region-state in the form of unitary Ethiopia.
Galatooma and Adieu!
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