August 16, 2006
Asmara
Defeated in the May 2005 general elections, the TPLF regime had sought to prolong its stay in power by forcibly suppressing at gunpoint the ensuing popular opposition.
Unfortunately for the regime, however, the Ethiopian Army joined the opposition mounted by students and the general public, signaling the TPLF's approaching demise and weakening its military strength. Recently, hundreds of Ethiopian soldiers including a Brigadier General and tens of other military commanders arrived in Eritrea abandoning the regime. This fact clearly demonstrates that the TPLF regime is on the verge of collapse and that the Ethiopian army is a significant component of the forceful revolution that the Ethiopian people are mounting to bring about the prevalence of the rule of law.
As the above-mentioned soldiers have explained, there isn't a member of the Ethiopian Army who is not aggrieved about the imprisonment, persecution and massacre of innocent civilians by the Ag'azi, a special regiment which the TPLF had established for just this effect. Yet, the Army used to refrain from taking any measures fearing the escalation of the existing chaos. But it had been indirectly making it known that it wants the TPLF regime to respect the rule of law and the country's constitution and to put an end to the atrocities being committed against the Ethiopian people. However, peacefully hading over power is not in the regime's nature and hence it is subjugating military leaders to imprisonment and persecution, accusing them of "disobeying orders and being part of the opposition". Meanwhile, the TPLF continues its looting of the Ethiopian people's wealth by placing its agents in key positions and monopolizing the political, economic, military and security forces of t he country. Thus, members of the Ethiopian Army chose to show their opposition by abandoning the regime and joining the popular struggle against the regime. Hence, the aforementioned arrival of Ethiopian soldiers in Eritrea was not the first of its kind, nor will it be the last. It is but a harbinger of a wider and more powerful military opposition to come. There are troops in western and eastern parts of Ethiopia already on the verge of taking similar steps.
As is well known, in the forceful opposition they voiced and the blood they had shed for more than a year, the Ethiopian people have demonstrated their allegiance to those whom they elected as their rightful leaders as the basis of the country's constitution but who are now languishing in various prisons. Moreover, Ethiopian soldiers are taking practical measures to show their concurrence with the Ethiopian people's sentiments. Indeed, if a given army has been established to sincerely protect the people and country, then its loyalty should be not to the minority clique holding power but to those who have been elected according to the country's constitution. The Ethiopian soldiers' either collective or individual desertion of the TPLF regime is thus a significant component of the Ethiopian people's current popular uprising. Realizing that the Army is on their side, the Ethiopian people should step up their struggle so as bring an immediate solution to their country's political turmoil and throw TPLF regime in the dustbin of history.
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