For better or worse: things are finally looking hopeful for Meles Zenawi
Gemeda Humnasa
Nov 20, 2006
Some said it was lack of funding for better equipments, some said it was purposely done, while others concluded it was just a lack of proper training on riot control for Ethiopian police forces. But all fell short to heal the tension in the capital, Addis Ababa , which started during the violence occurring right after the ~3,000 year old country’s first ever multiparty elections. Yet, for the first time since that unrest-, which claimed 193 Ethiopian lives, including six police officers- Ethiopians saw a rare smile coming from their controversial Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
An intense, dedicated father of three & belonging to the Tigrean ethnic group of Ethiopia ; Mr. Meles is still a student of the global market. He has received honorary doctorate degrees, though oddly finishing his university level studies during his time serving as an interim president and then as a PM. From the view of most Diaspora Ethiopian columnists, you will not find him as a man that has already won international awards like World Peace Prize, Yara Prize for Green Revolution and Good Governance Award of the Global coalition for Africa . Actually he was never liked by most American & European Ethiopians since the first day he set foot in the presidential palace in 1991, ironically after overthrowing the dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam who killed more than 500,000 innocent Ethiopians. So at first it seemed like Meles didn’t have to do anything, he was just hated for being who he is. But recently, mostly due to the unpleasant end of the 2005 elections and also due to his dismal reputation in the politically active Diaspora Ethiopians, American Ethiopians found a real reason to hate Meles and consequently he was losing the international support he certainly needs to get his country out of poverty. Yet there are no guarantees that he would have been laughing anytime soon even if his Diaspora countrymen appreciated his dedication & achievements. After all, having witnessed around 250,000 Tigreans & Wollo inhabitants perish and millions more Ethiopians suffer in poverty at the hands of the 1980’s Marxist dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam can never be a laughing matter. But this man who Western analysts called “a leader very dedicated to poverty reduction” is finally proving that he was deserving of his international accolades.
Recent news both from inside and outside the country seem to bring new hope to this third world nation. Despite the post-election violence most of the elected opposition parties, with the exception of Coalition for Unity & Democracy (CUD), are now represented in the Ethiopian parliament. In fact, even half of the CUD divisions have recently alienated themselves from the charged sub-party of CUD’s Kinijit, to join the rest of opposition parties in the parliament. Kinijit members, which were the favorite to win votes in the cities, were charged of inciting widespread riots when they found out they did not win enough votes in the rural areas, which are the areas where the economic policies of Meles’s ruling party typically nurtures. Thus what became an insurmountable roadblock to democracy became a lession for future elections and a stepping stone for a much better democracy.
To add to that, financial institutions recently indicated a steady rate of GDP growth and praised the dedication of Zenawi’s government on education, which are all major achievements knowing that the nation continues to suffer from destructive weather conditions. African Developments Indicators (ADI 2006) also showed Ethiopia ’s GDP had a rate of growth of about 9 percent in the last three years and is soon likely to be in double figures. Ethiopia , which has been one of the poorest countries for decades, is now doing exceptional in the domain of “structural policies” and most public sectors. As an indicator of rural investment in the poor, ADI 2006 showed 85% of Ethiopian children attended school, up from the 27% before Meles and his party took office.
However more than any of these improvements, what is taking place outside the country seems to help Mr. Meles and his EPRDF ruling party. For instance Amnesty International, which has been accused by the government for being the voice of anti-government groups and rebels, added another name to a list of its critics. To recall Amnesty’s last major reports on Ethiopia the last five years, Amnesty has incorrectly reported an ethnic conflict as an alleged genocide against regional authorities; a terrorist group vs. Ethiopian troop clash in southern borders as a mass murder charge against the government and then randomly labeled a group of imprisoned journalists who were eye witnessed spreading propaganda & starting devastating riots as a mere “prisoners of conscience.” At times some Ethiopians say that New York Times seemed to report more balanced information about Ethiopia than Amnesty, and Ethiopians continuously found Human Rights institutes as organizations allied to violent rebel groups like OLF & ONLF instead of helping Ethiopians foster their young democracy. Such shocking reports by Amnesty; which included its notorious request for the arrest of President George Bush & his administration and charge on Israel for “Human right violation” without addressing both sides, were becoming a norm issue for Amnesty, but having its last three reports of Ethiopian prison torture proved entirely wrong in October has ruined Amnesty’s reputation in Ethiopia.
Evidently it is important for Meles Zenawi and his government to have good reputation in the West and thus discrediting unsupported accusations by rebels financed by American Ethiopians who do not like the Ethiopian government and discrediting the rebels’ apparent client, Amnesty International, was key for the country’s stability and progress. Yet just as important for Meles Zenawi’s ruling party was how desperate the rebel groups themselves have become. Only in the last few months, one official allied to rebels defected north to Eritrea , which is a corrupt nation that has yet to hold elections and has similarities to North Korea . Thus the official who supported the opposition’s rebels soon became famous, for what Ethiopians mock, as the man who tried to salvage South Korea using North Korea . In the last five years only thousands of Eritreans have utilized refugee camps in Ethiopia and many hundred Eritrean evangelical & Pentecostal Christians have been persecuted & imprisoned for years in Eritrea .
Then in early November, a Kinijit supporter & regional level Judge defected to Europe to report that he was harassed by the government. Maybe not known to all Westerners but for Kinijit this month was as significant since the pro-Kinijit H.R.5680 bill was being discussed in the U.S. Congress and the House. So portraying the Ethiopian government as evil as possible would considerably help the H.R.5680 bill get passed in America . However initially, the judge’s claim of harassment was not getting much media coverage since it was normal that some Ethiopians, just like other Africans, find ways to get out of Ethiopia to seek asylum for financial reasons. So the next day this Kinijit supporter added that many “critics” of the government were imprisoned by the police only to change his story once again to “students” being harassed in Ethiopia . Still this did not quite do the job and he couldn’t get enough media coverage to shock anyone so he suddenly stated that “tens of thousands” of students were killed by the Ethiopian government despite his own co-workers denouncing him for playing “ugly politics.” But for what is worth, he finally received a wide level of media coverage in Europe, yet whether or not this will help the H.R.5680 bill get passed is still up in the air. However generally realizing that the terrorist rebels and armed opposition groups are getting this much desperate that even Amnesty found it too hard to believe have given Meles Zenawi and his government a reason to smile.
He admits that his party’s policy, which is known to empower every ethnic group in Ethiopia to bring freedom & democracy, is still prone to create ethnic conflicts, though rare. So the fact remains that more than 15 rebellion but oppressed ethnic groups that existed for many decades have now given up & traded their bullets for the ballot box. And the fact that not just the relatives of past Ethiopian emperors, but that all Ethiopians have never had this much stability and freedom in Ethiopia seems to help Mr. Meles Zenawi’s case. Together with the growing economy and the diverse parliament representation, no one can accuse Meles Zenawi for smiling once in a while.
Penn State University international politics/ writter, USA
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http://www.commissionforafrica.org/english/commissioners/bios/zenawi.html