We posted a couple of days ago a short article by Woyessa Feyissa [possibly a fictitious pen-name] titled �Participation in Meles�s Drama.� In the article, the author advocated boycotting the upcoming election. We do not endorse the views expressed by the author. In fact, we strongly urge Ethiopians to participate in every election that comes their way, for the mere fact that such exercise unequivocally establishes their singular right as citizens. We all know election process in Ethiopia or elsewhere in Africa is a sham. Even in the so-called democratic Western nations, election is never a puritan affair without some degree of corruption. What is important in the Ethiopian situation of going through the election process, knowing fully well that the whole system is corrupted and rigged to help reelect Meles Zenawi into office, is the fact that such repeated exercise of election would instill in the hearts and minds of Ethiopians a pattern of democratic behavior that will lead to real expectations for a fair election process and demand for change sooner than later. 

The only reason that we posted the article by Woyessa Feyissa is to allow such a sentiment of non-participation, which we have heard expressed often in discussions among Ethiopians, to be exposed for public discussion. The article has a single theme and is not fully developed. In fact, under normal circumstances we would not have posted such an article in our Website because of its lack of development, and would have requested the author to expand and enrich his article.  It is due to our desire to provoke discussion and due to our resolve to vote out Meles Zenawi that we posted the article by Woyessa Feyissa.

We call upon the leaders of the opposition political organizations and their support groups to set aside their differences, personal ambitions, and narrow political interests for the duration of the election. The single most unifying interest should be to save Ethiopia from destruction in the hands of Meles Zenawi who is bent on ceding Ethiopian sovereignty and territory piece by piece to neighboring nations.  The crime he has committed against the people of Ethiopia can only be remedied by removing him first from office.

If you love Ethiopia, if you are proud of your Ethiopian heritage, the up-coming election is the single most important election in the life of our beleaguered nation. If Meles Zenawi is reelected, the harm Meles Zenawi and his group of supporters would unleash on Ethiopia is beyond your widest imagination. Some of the obvious acts of destruction would be:

1.       the border demarcation with �Eritrea� that will permanently land lock Ethiopia, strangling over seventy million Ethiopians to our utter destruction twenty to thirty years time;

2.       the ceding of vast territories to Sudan both in the fertile area of Begemder including all of Benshangul; and further south all of the area covering Gommu Goffa and Gambela;

3.       the ceding of vast areas of the Ogaden to Somalia, and down south most of Borana and all of Lake Turkana to Kenya;

4.       the forgoing and abandonment of Ethiopia�s vital interest in exploiting and developing the waters of the Blue Nile and its many rivers and that of Lake Tana;

5.       the welcoming with open arms of the �Eritrean� government and some exploitative  �Eritreans� back to Ethiopia in the guise of political normalization programs to exploit and take advantage of the limited economic resource Ethiopia might have, looting its wealth and corrupting its economic system as was done in the period between 1991 to 1997;

6.       the making of Ethiopia as a totally dependant-beggar nation on the United States, Britain, and the Arab nations;

7.       the destruction of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the one great institution that has been holding Ethiopia together for more than a thousand years, there by exposing the core of Ethiopian civilization to total annihilation;

8.        the corruption and dehumanizing of Ethiopians by creating pockets of affluence in the middle of great human suffering and poverty; and

9.       the looting of hundreds of millions of dollars through sham business enterprises affiliated or organized by ethnic based development associations like TDA and others.

Such are some of the horrendous problems that Meles Zenawi and company would bring about to Ethiopia if elected for the next five years. Are you willing to accept the fact of the destruction of Ethiopia just because you failed to work together setting aside differences in order to vote out Meles Zenawi and company?  For Ethiopia sake and for your own survival, please form a single block of opposition. Do not negotiate with the Government of Meles Zenawi individually for crumbs, for you will for sure be divided up and destroyed individually. Meles Zenawi is very weak; He only seems very powerful because he is being perceived through the eyes of a divided nation and of contentious self-mutilating groups, who could have been a formidable force if such groups only work as a united block of opposition. Personally, I have a serious reservation on the quality of the character of some of the leaders of the opposition; however, every single one of them is a great improvement compared to Meles Zenawi when it comes to the question of protecting and promoting Ethiopia and its sovereignty and territorial integrity. I will follow any one of them as my leader for the sake of saving our country. End

Tecola W. Hagos

February 10, 2005

 ___________________________