Politics is about people. After all, democracy is defined as �Government of the people by the people and for the people�. But then, among the people, a peculiar form of leadership always emerges. There are great leaders who are naturally charismatic, epitome of great grassroots politicians, humanists, cool-headed, honest, painstaking and intelligent who are dedicated to the causes of downtrodden masses. These are leaders who are to be reckoned with owing to the history of faithfulness to the causes of their people. Equally, there are nasty and power hungry creatures too who terrorize their people and betray their country. Although William Shakespeare opines that there is no art to find the mind construction on the face, which as a matter of fact is a reflection of human complexity.

Our politicians must create a democratic government that believes by the strength of our common endeavors to achieve more than we achieve alone, so as to create each of us the means to realize our true potential and for all of us a harmonious and united community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many not the few, where the rights we enjoy reflect the duties we owe, and where we live together, freely in sprit of solidarity, tolerance and respect. Our beliefs in social justice have to be true to the beliefs of our forefathers and ancestors.

Ethiopia�s true and future democrat politicians should only exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which they all seek to balance the fundamental values of our liberty, equality and community, and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity. They must champion the freedom, dignity and well being of all individuals. They should acknowledge and respect their citizen�s rights to freedom of conscience and the right to develop their talents to the full. They must strive to aim to disperse power, to foster diversity and to nurture creativity. They must believe that the role of the state is to enable all citizens to attain these ideals, to contribute fully to their communities and to take part in the decisions, which affect their lives.

Furthermore, in an honest and chivalrous way, they must look forward to the divided Ethiopian community in which all people share the same basic rights, in which they live together in peace, harmony and in which their different cultures will be able to develop freely. They must believe that each generation is responsible for the fate of our country and even our planet and, by safeguarding the balance of nature and the environment, for the long-term continuity of life in all its forms.

Upholding these values of individual and social justice, they must reject all prejudice and discrimination based upon race, color, religion, age, disability, sex or sexual orientation and oppose all forms of entrenched privilege and inequality. Recognizing that the quest for freedom and justice can never end, they must be willing to promote human rights and open government, a sustainable economy which serves genuine need, public services of the highest quality, international action based on a recognition of the interdependence of our country, all the world's peoples and responsible stewardship of the earth and its resources.

They should also believe that people should be involved in running their own communities. From the year 2005, they must be determined to strengthen the democratic process and ensure that there is a just and representative system of government with effective Parliamentary institutions, freedom of press, information, decisions taken at the lowest practicable level and a fair voting system for all elections. They must at all times defend the right to speak, write, worship, associate and vote freely, and they must protect the right of citizens to enjoy privacy in their own lives and homes. They must believe that sovereignty rests with the people and that authority in a democracy derives from the people.

Above all, they should acknowledge their right to determine the form of government best suited to their people�s needs and commit themselves to the promotion of a democratic federal framework within which as much power as feasible is exercised by the nations and regions of Ethiopia. Similarly, they must commit themselves to the promotion of a flourishing system of democratic local government in which decisions are taken and services delivered at the most local level, which is viable.

They must foster a strong and sustainable economy which encourages the necessary wealth creating processes, develops and uses the skills of the people and works to the benefit of all, with a just distribution of the rewards of success. The people of Ethiopia are very eager to see real democracy, participation and the co-operative principle in industry and commerce within a competitive environment in which the state allows the market to operate fully and freely where possible but intervenes where necessary. Democrats will have to promote scientific research and innovation & further harness technological change to human advantage.

Democrats will have to work for a sense of partnership and community in all areas of life. They will have to recognize that the independence of individuals is safeguarded by their personal ownership of property, but that the market alone does not distribute wealth or income fairly. They will have to support the widest possible distribution of wealth and promote the rights of all our citizens to social provision and cultural activities. They must seek to make public services responsive to the people they serve, to encourage variety and innovation within them and to make them available on equal terms to all.

Furthermore, their responsibility for justice & liberty cannot be confined by national boundaries. They have to be committed to strongly fight corruption, poverty, oppression, hunger, ignorance, disease & aggression wherever they occur and to promote the free movement of ideas, people, goods and services. Setting aside national sovereignty when necessary, they will have to work with other countries towards an equitable and peaceful international order and a durable system of common security. Within the World Community they must affirm the values of federalism and integration and work for unity based on these principles.

Such democrats and their future democratic government will have to contribute to the process of world peace, the elimination of world poverty & the collective safeguarding of democracy too by playing a full and constructive role in international organizations, which share similar aims and objectives. These have to be the conditions of liberty and social justice, which also are the responsibility of each citizen and the duty of the democratic state to protect and enlarge. Rulers should be chosen for their superior abilities and not because of their wealth or birth too. And those democratically elected by the people for the people must never use EPRDF�S and those of Colonialist Style divide and rule methods as well.

Ethiopian Democrats must always consist of patriotic women and men, who are able and willing to working together for all the oppressed poor citizens and well-to-do Ethiopians, the achievement of these aims and their beloved country Ethiopia. Therefore, let us strive to establish a democratic and just society once and for all, so that where that historical brotherhood of Ethiopians could be strengthened, not weakened.

Democracy is a kind of legal contract between the governed people and the democratically elected governors. But as one eloquently put it in details, the Ethiopian people are a living testimony to the trouble their country is in. Ethiopian opposition forces also say that the country is in a crisis. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi himself has described it as sinking ship. So, everyone is in agreement that Ethiopia is in deep trouble. This, too, is our assessment. Therefore, it is better if we talk about the solutions rather than dwelling on the problems. A one party dictatorial system like the EPRDF can�t solve Ethiopia�s multifarious problems alone. But this doesn't mean another party can find a solution to the problems either when it assumes power. They are very difficult to grapple with, for opposition parties, however determined or resourceful they may be.

The alternative, thus, is to stop fighting for personal positions and tackle Ethiopia's problems in unison, to deliberate and conduct dialogues so that, from among the various solutions proposed, the best course can be charted to steer the country on the right path. When we suggest that policies and laws aimed at addressing Ethiopia's problems should be formulated through joint deliberations, the EPRDF may argue that it has already organized meetings of various segments of the society and civil servants on different issues but those were only to impose rules and expand their power base.

But this isn't what we mean by deliberation or dialogue. We are not referring to discussions to drum up support for biased and illegal documents written by government officials and which, beforehand, had been branded final by those who matter nor to �deliberations� where the drafters of the documents and the moderators of their discussions happen to be one and the same and try to steer the discussions only in the direction they had in mind. By deliberation, we mean a genuine discussion where goodwill, a sense of responsibility and trust prevail and where priority is accorded to national and public interest so that the best solutions fitting our peculiar problems are sought and implemented.

It's common to observe good leaders with goodwill whose countries are in a crisis situation to declare that their party cannot on its own overcome the problems and that they are willing to set aside their differences with other political parties to work jointly to find solutions to them. They set up an expert body interested in such a task; alternative proposals, with all their partisan party persuasions, are examined, weighed, selected and finally promulgated. This way solution can be found for national problems. It's by adopting such an open approach that a viable alternative can be secured for both the nation and the EPRDF.

But for this to happen first the EPRDF must do something important - acknowledge that it has failed to provide the required leadership in order to govern the country. If it doesn't have the courage to do so, it should bear in mind that it is headed for another round of failure and downfall. If all was well at the top, how do they explain the entire muddle they put the country and themselves in? And why did they ban a free press too if there was a democracy? As the wise men say: �politicians who complain about the media are like ship�s captains who complain about the sea�.

The EPRDF should not therefore delude itself into believing that its political system and the recent reorganization from a Front of various ethnic parties to a Union of such parties is the start of an embarkation on a different path and of a new brand of leadership it had been following for nearly 13 years. These measures seems to be a ploy to bolster its ethnic structuring, which has lost support and whose foundation is being eroded, by another tack which essentially does not presuppose a fundamental ideological or political change. The recent discussion of government officials on Ethiopia's foreign policy document and illegal measures taken against EFJA has been the subject of criticism by the public and world community. It has created the impression that the EPRDF suffer not only a leadership crisis but a personality crisis as well.

Here, I am not disapproving at all the reverence our ministers, commissioners have for the Prime Minister. But we want them to bear in mind what Aristotle had said to Plato: �Plato is dear to me, but the truth is dearer�. This should make them reflect more deeply on the fate of the country. In conclusion, just as the EPRDF and government officials have reiterated that we shouldn't be unduly proud of our past history, the EPRDF itself must not be vain about its achievements as a guerrilla force; it must admit that its tenure as a civilian government is a flop and call on all concerned to do whatever is necessary to extricate our country from its misery. Seeking a short cut to evade such a responsibility will ultimately end in abject failure. Tinkering a t the edges cannot improve a flawed system too.

It is not surprising then that politics at the top drives some people mad. It makes different people mad in different ways. Some lose their sense of self and reality, becoming just an endless succession of surfaces, smiling and glossy, with no human core left. Others become hateful, ruthless, reckless, rude and angry, treating people around them as malfunctioning machines and domestic pets. Others take to the poisonous briefings and the maneuverings with a relish that really requires a psychiatrist. And let us not forget those eaten up by disappointment and resentment, which find that they don�t really ever recover from the mayhem and the madness. Most male politicians and in particular ministers of our country today appear to have drunk a lethal cocktail of incompetence, arrogance, and dishonesty that inflates them and does untold harm to the country. They come to office and most of the times by partialities with a mania for �initiations� without understanding the consequences. What they never change, sadly, is the bad, old and rotten chauvinistic adherence to the centralized bureaucratic state that is at the roof of so many problems.

There are three kinds of ministers in any government. The first and most numerous, are rabbits, who live in a state of funk. The second are time-savers, who make no trouble, but achieve nothing significant. The third and rarest breeds are those who join a government to get things done. We Ethiopians need of course, the foremost of that rare breed the last kind, the conviction politicians. Let�s bring some personalities into this.

Genet Zewudie now in her thirteen years as a Minister of Education and Fine Arts has achieved absolutely nothing good in her time for education in our country. She was proved and exposed to be as a hopeless incompetent who demoralized students, expelled highly experienced intellectuals and destroyed our reputable education system. How about the uneducated and undiplomatic Ambassadors; Berhane Gebre- Kiristos, Addis-Alem Balema, and others like Yemane Kidane, Dawit Yohannes, Kasu Ilala, Tefera Walwa, Arkebe Oqubay and Addisu Legesse? They survived purely because they are buddies with Meles Zenawi hence has to be hidden away where their bungling and bad inarticulacy are not shoved in the faces of the electorate.

Nasty morons like Sebhat Nega, Abay Tsehaye and an Eritrean mercenary called Bereket Simon are so zealous, ruthless and reckless in their attitudes and are marked by their shameful failure to act decisively about Badme, EFJA and other fiascos. Seyoum Mesfin has become one of the most pointless and useless Foreign Ministers in living memory as his job is largely taken over by the Prime Minister. He acts increasingly like a cornered rodent snarling at the media for the failing of himself, his boss and his colleagues. These so-called ministers & others always champion �centralism against localism, uniformity above diversity, control instead of innovation and above all bureaucracy rather than democracy�.

Therefore, all opposition political parties and future government must draw up good policies designed to �set the people free� from central government control. �Localism� is the buzzword. I think that there are big reasons why politics is moving towards the local. People realized that the world has changed: there are bigger global forces now that affect their lives. That produces a growing sense of insecurity, and people make comfort in what they know-they shelter in the very local. �Solidarity is no one-way street�. If there is to be peace, freedom and development in our society, we have to reconcile our past disagreements and differences, compromise and work together so that every young person, girls and boys, get their chances to take a decent job that they dream of. There are no excuses anymore. This time we have to make abundantly clear to the public that, now everything is right and just for the oppressed nation.

In 1940s, people voted for government to take control. Nowadays, because great global factors are in play, people feel less certain about the role of the nation state, the role of national government, and increasingly, they are taking refuge in their community. At the same time, voters are also more demanding of the public services. This is because we now live in a different world with different assumptions. At the end of the Second World War, �take-it-or-leave-it� service was a huge leap forward but that is not how people want to have their services today. People quite reasonably expect much more responsive services, and that requires the creation of services belong to the people who use them and the people who fund them through taxes & other contributions.

In the process, politicians need to set up the right balances between national standards of local control and, having put the standards in place, the pendulum has now got to swing decisively to the local. Hence the starting point is that the public services don�t belong to the politicians-they belong to the people who use them and the people who fund them. What the politicians therefore have to do is find a way of bridging the democratic deficit that has been allowed to grow up between the public services and the communities that they serve. Then we will get public services that are better in tune with the needs of the local communities, that, in my view, have to run alongside giving individuals greater choices of democratic systems. However, they must be very careful when giving power to the locals that they do not create differences and inequalities. Because different communities have got different needs. Uniformity of provision cannot guarantee equality of outcome.

We have to treat elderly politicians and people in exile too and those who loyally served their country in all areas and fields with decency and dignity in the past and make room for their participation while some remained as sharp-minded today as ever they were. It would therefore be a wanton waste of their experience and their expertise to not involve them in future Ethiopian governments simply because they are in exile or old.

It would also be extremely insulting to all the country�s old and exiled people to suggest that, when they have past a certain age or in exile, they should no longer be allowed a say in the running of their country. We don�t have to create mechanism of you either die or take a leave of absence for retirement. The number of female parliamentarians must be increased too. We need to look like a democratic country and sound like a democratic country.

Therefore, first and foremost, we must believe that we can improve all the above, prevent hostilities, and then do something about them. Trust me it may just work. Progressive politics demands a mixture of optimism and realism. Without realism we would never be able to engage with the world as it actually is, in order to build our country. Allow too much imbalance between the two and we either undervalue our potential to imagine what might be or undermine our ability to improve what already exists. Keeping the two equilibrium together, my entire politically conscious lifetime has meant lowering standards to maintain a sense of perspective. Un-sustained by the prospect of victory, optimism becomes little more than wishful thinking and realism curdles into defeatism.

Nevertheless, we will have to take the side of brave men and women who advocate human rights and democratic values. We will have to promote moderation, tolerance and the non-negotiable demands of human dignity�the rule of law, limits on the power of the state, and respect for women, private property, free speech and equal justice. Every Ethiopian now faces a choice between lawful democratic changes and dictatorial chaotic violence; between joyless conformity and an open, creative society; and between celebration of death in war, murder and the defense of life and its dignity through peace and democracy. We must be committed to defending our society. I believe that freedom and respect for human rights are owed to every human being now and in future. I believe too that deliberate murder of innocent civilians & the oppression of our citizens are everywhere still and are wrong. Hence we must all refuse to appease the aggression and brutality of evil men and women.

Finally, �The greatest tool in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed�, argued the late South African black consciousness activist, Steve Biko. For us, Ethiopians losing has become a habit; being in a minority has become a mindset. Therefore, I believe, it is natural for men and women of my country Ethiopia, to want freedom, health, wealth and happiness for their families and themselves. Hence politicians of these desperate times need temporary and long-term measures to achieve these for the nation, fulfill the noble and just causes they fight for. That by good nature, hard work, natural talent and diversity, Ethiopia is home to a great people, cradle of civilization and mankind with a noble past and exciting future. Hence get up and unite to beat evil forces and free Ethiopia from its enemies to make the future yours, and yours alone.

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Note: Many thanks to all of you who have sent me emails expressing your concerns and taking your valuable times to contact me during my short absence from the cyber world. As promised, I am back to pour those informative, educational and above all, WMD (Words Of Mass Destruction) aimed at Ethiopian enemies like the sick, weird, mad and sleepless Simon Berhane Girmay who now calls himself Yohannes Tesfai - (^{[email protected]). He has been spying on me through emails to no avail. What a silly sod!}

^{=By: Dr G Bekele � 29 February 2004=}

Genuine comments from Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia are very much appreciated at: ^{[email protected]}